


Parenthood

by FantasticMrMac



Series: Seichō no Itami [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Gore, Canon Continuation, Canon-Typical Violence, Death, Destruction, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Drama, Fire, Gen, Invasion, Katana, Must Read, Mystery, Next Generation, Pain, Revenge, Romance, Sexual Content, Swordplay, Torture, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-24 00:09:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2560814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticMrMac/pseuds/FantasticMrMac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having finally settled down with Sakura, Sasuke has grown comfortable with the "boring" life he leads as a father and husband. Things with the Uchiha are never simple however as Sasuke's past comes back to haunt him and threatens to destroy his family...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day In The Life

**A/N: Long, long, long ago, I wrote a series of Naruto stories and in retrospect, they were horrible. So, instead of attempting to rewrite them, I kind of retooled them into this story. Inspired by some SasuSaku family pictures on Deviantart and recent developments in the manga, I present this story...**

* * *

 Birds chirped as they began to ring in the new day with a song. The sun made its presence known through the window and blinds. Outside, the thinnest branches on the trees swayed from the wind. It had become tradition for Sasuke to watch the shifting of the darkness of night to the brightness of morning. He found it to be a reminder of the transformation within himself from a hate-filled international criminal to one of the key protectors of the village he had once sworn to destroy. The raven-haired Uchiha took in a small breath and looked down to his side.

He smiled gently as his eyes fell upon one of many reasons his heart had taken a turn. His wife, Sakura Haruno-Uchiha, slept soundly on his chest with her own heart thumping on Sasuke's ribs. Sasuke smirked as he remembered why his wife was so tired, the stings of the scratch marks she left on his back after their sweaty and pleasure filled night. These moments came few and far between sometimes. Mostly because of...

A knock came from outside of the room onto the bedroom door and Sasuke smiled. He carefully laid Sakura's head back down on the pillow and got up from the bed, grabbing a shirt and pants as he made his way to the door. There was another knock as Sasuke crossed the floor and he stretched and yawned.

"Hold on a second. I'm coming," Sasuke called, turning fractionally to make sure he didn't wake Sakura. When he saw that he didn't, Sasuke turned the knob and opened his room door. Outside, two young boys stood with bright eyes and eager faces. The taller and oldest of the two dipped his head with respect and the younger boy followed.

"Good morning, Father," the older boy, Takuma, said. Eleven years old, Takuma was nearly the spitting image of Sasuke's beloved and deceased brother Itachi, save for a dark green eye color inherited from his mother. The younger of the two brothers grinned widely at Sasuke.

"Good morning, daddy!" he said, excitedly. "Are we going to train today? Can we? Please?" Sasuke smiled. Kichiro was eight years old and would be starting the Academy soon. From Sasuke, Kichiro had inherited the Uchiha's raven-colored hair, styled similarly to his father's and the same dark, entrancing eyes. But his excitably, cheerfulness and energy seemed to have come from somewhere else entirely. Sasuke closed the door as he left the room and stood in the hall.

"Where's Hikari?" Sasuke asked. "You know she'll be upset if you two leave her." Kichiro folded his arms and pouted. Sasuke shot his youngest son a stern glance and Kichiro's arms fell. Takuma looked over at his brother with a gentle gaze and then back at his father.

"She's asleep in her room. But, Mother did say that she wanted to take her to visit Aunt Ino's flower shop today," Takuma said, calmly. Sasuke attempted to recall whether or not Sakura had ever mentioned taking Hikari anywhere to him but all he could remember was having dinner and then "dessert" with his wife. He knew Takuma wouldn't lie, not to his face anyway. Besides, if he was, Sasuke would found out later.

Sasuke scratched behind his head. "Well, you two did wake up pretty early to make your request. I suppose we can go out and train then," the Uchiha said. Takuma smiled and Kichiro nearly leapt out of his clothes with joy.

"Let's get our gear, Kichiro," Takuma said as the two raced back to their room. Sasuke stretched and opened the door to his bedroom. If they were going to go out training, he'd definitely need to freshen up first. Silent as a shadow, and made his way to the bathroom connected to the master bedroom. As per usual, Sasuke ran a cold shower. The briskness of the water woke his body and gave him a much-needed rejuvenation. After washing every nook, cranny and orifice on his person, Sasuke dried himself and glided back to his room. His training gear hung behind the sliding shoji doors of his closet and Sasuke quickly dressed himself, zipping up his white, high-collared shirt with the Uchiha crest proudly displayed and then his dark blue pants followed by strapping on his black sandals. His chokutō slid into its sheathe and Sasuke added the final piece to his garb, his Leaf headband.

"Leaving already?" Sasuke turned to see Sakura leaning up fractionally to look at him, her green eyes tracing down his body. Her gaze added a fire in the Uchiha man's stomach.

"Yes," Sasuke said, smiling as he walked towards the bed. "The boys woke up pretty early to request some training. Kichiro's especially excited." Sasuke was half surprised when Sakura's hands grabbed at his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss. Sometimes he forgot how strong she was. Sasuke could easily make out her shape underneath the sheets, every one of her curves enticing him to strip off his clothes and make love to her until the sun was setting. The fight against his urges proved difficult but manageable. Sasuke kissed Sakura softly and ran his hands down her body, pausing on her stomach. Sakura smiled up at him. "I have to go. They've waited long enough." Sasuke said before adding, "We'll finish this when I get back." Sakura shook her head.

"We can't. I'm taking Hikari to Ino's flower shop so she can watch her and then I'll be going to the hospital for work," She said, pouting. Sasuke nodded. So, Takuma had told him the truth. Sasuke smiled as he approached Sakura again, kissing her softly.

"If you'll be at the hospital, that's fine. That means there'll be a room and bed for us," Sasuke's words slithered smoothly from his mouth and he could see the change in Sakura's visage as they came out. Her pout turned into a satisfied smile.

"I'll see you later, then," Sakura said, lying back down in the bed. Sasuke loomed over her. His raven-colored bangs softly brushing his wife's face. He kissed again with a passionate finality.

"You will," He said before he left out of the room and closed the door.

The boys sat outside on the porch and as they heard Sasuke approaching, they stood. Sasuke's eyes looked over the beautiful estate he and his family owned, styled in the classic ways of his clan. Fully reconstructed after having nearly been destroyed by the invasion of Pain nearly twenty years ago, the Uchiha Estate included a large lakefront teeming with freshwater fish. The lake even served as a small source of income as people from all over the village often paid a small fee to fish at one of the richest lakes for miles.

Sasuke looked down at his sons and placed one hand on Kichiro's head and the other on Takuma's shoulder. "Let's head to the Spot," Sasuke said to his two sons. The boys nodded and grinned widely.

The clearing known as the Spot was an enormous expanse that stretched for a few hundred yards before it was overtaken by the tree line. Sasuke had expanded the area himself, cutting trees down accidentally while perfecting certain techniques in the past, then burning the old stumps away with fire jutsu. The day before when he had trained, Sasuke managed to make another mark on the landscape, while burning and breaking his leg in the process. Limping home from here was an absolute pain in the ass. Thankfully, Sakura had been able to heal it completely with medical jutsu and he avoided having his children see him hurt.

As the entered the Spot, Takuma took off for the center of the clearing with his younger brother following close behind him. Sasuke stood beneath the shade of a tree and watched his two sons playing around with some taijutsu.

Kichiro leapt toward his brother, swinging a punch only for Takuma to casually dodge out of the way. Kichiro continued to pursue his brother with a determined spark in his eye while Takuma smiled lightly at him and dodged backwards casually. Despite not being able to land a hit on his brother, Kichiro continued to pursue, changing his tactics from simple punches to kicks. The sudden change caught Takuma off guard and this time, he had to raise his arms to block. Kichiro's determination had paid off a bit. Sasuke smiled as Takuma backed away and rubbed Kichiro's head and the young boy smiled.

Sasuke smiled and walked from under the shade of the tree. "Alright, enough play. We're going to start off with a little bit of a taijutsu/ninjutsu training, just like you two were doing before...except you'll be teamed against me. Think you can handle that?" Sasuke asked. Takuma lowered into a fighting stance and Kichiro copied him.

"Yes, sir," Takuma said. Barely a second after his words exited his mouth, Takuma shot towards Sasuke, throwing several very focused and precise punches and kicks. Sasuke batted them away and caught Kichiro moving in from his peripheral. The younger Uchiha son rushed forward like a wrecking ball, barreling into Sasuke. With a quick substitution, the Uchiha replaced his body with a log and reappeared across the field from his sons. The two boys exchanged glances with each other and nodded. The two boys split with Takuma circling around and attacking Sasuke from the right while Kichiro attacked from the left.

Sasuke's eyes suddenly picked up two additional Takumas. Clones. As perfect as they were, Sasuke could still easily distinguish them from Takuma's actual body. While Sasuke's eyes stayed on Takuma's clones, he heard Kichiro approaching on the grass. The young boy yelled out as he threw a kick which Sasuke blocked, grabbing Kichiro by his ankle and whipping him around and tossing him into the grass. Kichiro rolled and fell behind Takuma as his clones rushed Sasuke.

The illusions faded as they closed in on Sasuke but as they did, Takuma was right behind them with a punch of his own. If Sasuke had been a green Genin, the attack surely would've worked in his son's favor. He was impressed by that much. Sasuke grabbed Takuma by the wrist and threw him into the air. Kichiro looked as if he was readying to attack, his eyes focused in on Sasuke's own.

"The rules of engagement are changed. You are free to utilize any technique or weapon you see fit. If you can land a hit on me...I'll take you out for some sweets," Sasuke said with a smirk. Takuma flipped elegantly to the ground and looked over at Kichiro who smiled brightly.

"Aw yeah, I want a lemon cake! Let's get him, Takuma!" Kichiro said, beaming up at his older brother. Takuma nodded and lightly tapped his younger brother's forehead.

"We won't win if we're reckless," he said. Sasuke agreed. He attributed Kichiro's recklessness in battle to his young age and immaturity. In fact, he fought more like Naruto than he did his father. The very thought sent shivers down his spine. He would have to rein him in somehow, one day before he became a Genin and his reckless behavior endangered his entire team.

Kichiro looked up to his older brother and the two nodded at each other. Sasuke's eyes watched as Takuma attempted to circle around him. Sasuke turned his head to watch him but his instincts warned him of something. Sasuke's eyes went back to Kichiro as he performed the hand seals that Sasuke had memorized since he was a young boy.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Kichiro shouted as the grand fireball, the mark of true Uchiha clan membership, flew from his mouth and towards Sasuke. The older Uchiha smiled with pride. He would meet his son's fireball with one of his own. After a blur of hand seals, Sasuke took in a deep breath as he felt the fiery chakra well up in his chest.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Sasuke said. Sasuke's fireball easily dwarfed his child's. Within a few moments, Kichiro would be overtaken and defeated unless he somehow managed to dodge. Sasuke had almost forgotten about Takuma until he felt the heat of the boy's fireball at his back. Sasuke smirked. He was impressed. With a substitution, Sasuke removed himself from between the fireballs and the the fires eventually dissipated. Kichiro panted softly while Takuma looked around, wary of another attack. Sasuke leapt from the tree he transported himself into and walked out into the clearing.

"Did we get you? Did we win?" Kichiro asked, sweat dripping from his brow. Takuma went to his little brother's side and watched Sasuke. The older Uchiha looked into the sky. They had been training much longer than he thought. It was nearly noon and the summer heat was starting to flare. Sasuke's eyes went back towards his sons and he nodded slightly.

"You two did well," Sasuke said, casting his gaze onto Kichiro first. "I'll work with you a bit more so that we can refine your fighting style. Recklessness in the combat field can endanger the mission and your team. If you take risks, you have to be secure enough in your power to guarantee success. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Kichiro replied, lowering his head. Sasuke felt a slight pang of guilt but ignored the feeling and pushed it to the side. His eyes then went to Takuma.

"Takuma, good job leading the attack. Also, your clone taijutsu combo was impressive. Once you learn the kage bun shin, it'll make up for the normal clone liabilities," Sasuke said, folding his arms and smiling lightly. "Now...who wants sweets?" Kichiro's face brightened up and Takuma smiled.

"I do! I do!" Kichiro said, his smile wide and stretching across his face. Takuma nodded and Sasuke dipped his head.

"Then, let's go," he said, before turning, ready to lead his sons into the forest. As they began to leave, Takuma ran to Sasuke's side.

"Father...could we come back here tonight and train? My Academy test is tomorrow and I want to make sure that I've gotten everything down. Is that ok?" Takuma asked. The older Uchiha looked at Takuma's face. The boy's dark emerald eyes seemed to be flickering with expectation.

"Yeah. We can go before dinner and after you've rested from this morning," As the three Uchiha left the forest and started down to make their way into the village, Sasuke patted himself and sighed. He had left his money in the house. He would just have to tell Choji to put it on his tab.

The village of Konoha opened up to the three Uchiha and the hustle and bustle of its citizens crowded the streets. Sasuke watched as his two sons scampered away from him, playing an impromptu game of hide and seek using ninjutsu. Sasuke watched the two for a bit and was reminded of his own interactions with Itachi. Sasuke took in a deep breath and exhaled. If only Itachi could be here to see this.

With his children in eyeshot despite them disappearing into the crowd, Sasuke walked through Konoha, nodding casually to a few shinobi that waved at him. To most people in the village, he was a hero, part of a duo that had saved the world. Now, he was a father and husband. Sasuke wasn't complaining. He had wished since the day that Itachi had been ordered to massacre his clan to rebuild it and return the Uchiha name to its former glory. But now that things seemed to be on their way, Sasuke lived himself in a world where he didn't have to constantly kill and fight to survive...and he was surprisingly rather bored and antsy.

His people had always been adept at combat and fighting was one thing he knew how to do with a certainty. He didn't always have the right words to say to his children or Sakura, but he knew exactly where to put a Chidori to stop an opponent, which poisons would stop a man's heart and how much he needed to put into a sword swing to severe an arm. Life had given these lessons to him. He had spent the first seventeen years of his life learning what it meant to be a killer. He was still learning now how to be normal.

Sasuke saw his sons emerge from the crowd and head toward a flower shop with a bush clover emblem on the outside. Sasuke smirked as heard a cry of glee come from inside the building and he hurried through the crowd and rounded the corner. Takuma and Kichiro hugged their baby sister and when the girl saw her father, she ran on stunted legs to meet him. Sasuke lowered himself and scooped his daughter, Hikari, into the air, smiling as his baby girl giggled. With green eyes and bright pink hair, Hikari was as close to a miniature Sakura as Sasuke could dream. The youngest of his children, Hikari was barely three years old and a bright bundle of joy.

"Ah, no wonder she was so excited," a voice called from behind the counter. Sasuke looked over and saw Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's best friend and the honorary aunt of his children. Sasuke dipped his head and gave a casual smile.

"Hey, Ino. How was Hikari?" Sasuke asked. Ino shrugged as she placed flower pots behind her.

"She was a little sleepy when Sakura brought her in this morning. Cried a little when her mother left, but she's been a great helper since. If she doesn't become a kunoichi, she'll make a great florist," Ino laughed. Sasuke held Hikari close to his chest and his daughter laid her head on him. She giggled as she heard his heartbeats and Sasuke smiled at her laughter.

"Thanks for watching her," Sasuke said, looking up at Ino. "I'll take it from here." Ino nodded and smiled.

"Alright," she said, casting her blue eyes on Hikari. "Bye, you guys and thanks for being such a great help, Hikari." Hikari smiled back and waved.

"Bye bye!" Hikari yelled as Sasuke carried her out. When the semi-complete Uchiha family left the flower shop, Hikari wiggled in Sasuke's arms. Sasuke looked down at the girl, perplexed.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"Papa, Papa, up!" Hikari cried, reaching to climb on top of Sasuke's shoulders. Begrudgingly, Sasuke picked his daughter up and sat her behind his head. The girl patted down the spikes in the back to keep it out of her face. Takuma and Kichiro looked up at the older Uchiha and Sasuke nodded.

"You know where the Akimichi Bakery is, right? Meet us there," Sasuke said. Takuma and Kichiro nodded and raced back into the crowd. Hikari started to whine.

"Why did they leave me?" she cried. Sasuke patted her leg as he walked through.

"Don't worry. We'll catch up to them," Sasuke said. Hikari sighed and leaned down on Sasuke's head, before rising back up again. Sasuke glanced up and saw Hikari's finger pointing forward.

"March, Papa!" Hikari shouted. Begrudgingly, Sasuke released a tiny bit of his pride and walked forward, raising his feet a little to appear to march. This sated Hikari enough and Sasuke looked around, daring anyone to as much as smirk at him for appeasing his child. Before long, Sasuke's eyes caught sight of the Akimichi Bakery. He could already hear Kichiro's excited voice as he seemed to be deciding what he wanted to get. Hikari heard them too and began to giggle. Sasuke dropped Hikari from his shoulders and to the ground, holding her hand as they entered the bakery.

"You get one, each," Sasuke said as he entered the bakery. The cashier behind the counter watched the two boys with careful eyes until she saw Sasuke enter with Hikari.

"Thank God you're here," the woman said, her plump face turning upside down as she frowned. "These two have been promising they'd pay for what they want but don't have a penny on them. Surely, the great Sasuke Uchiha will..." the woman said. Sasuke stared at the woman with a straight face.

"I was hoping that you'd let me put it on my tab. Unfortunately, I left my money home when I went out this morning. Wasn't really planning on taking my children to the bakery today," Sasuke said. The woman gawked and then sighed.

"Choji would agree to this. I'll accept the deal for that alone, at least. But you have until the end of this day to bring back what you owe," the woman said. Sasuke looked to his children.

"Get what you want. One thing," Sasuke said. Kichiro immediately went for the lemon cakes, Takuma walked to the wagashi and Hikari cried for a small chocolate cupcake. After the children had grabbed what they wanted, Sasuke looked to the cashier and dipped his head. "I'll have the money here by the end of the day." he said before turning and walking out. Kichiro and Hikari laughed as they sat on a bench and ate while Takuma looked up into the sky as if he was in deep thought. Sasuke looked at the boy and then walked towards him. Takuma looked up and blinked.

"Yes, Father?" he said.

"What're you thinking about?" Sasuke asked. Takuma took another bite of his wagashi, chewed, swallowed then spoke.

"Just about the examination tomorrow. I'm..." Takuma paused before sighing softly. "Nervous," he whispered as if the words were taboo. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Of all of his children, Takuma had always been the most confident in himself, even if it were simply silent confidence. To hear him say he was nervous about anything...was a surprise. Sasuke took Takuma by his shoulder and led him away from his brother and sister.

"What exactly are you nervous about? Your clone technique is excellent, your transformation is near perfect and you're one of the only Academy that can utilize elemental ninjutsu. In my estimation, you're practically guaranteed to pass. What's the problem?" Sasuke asked. Takuma dropped his eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know..." Takuma said before he looked back up at Sasuke. "I'll make you proud, Father." the boy's words were honest but the confidence behind them was lacking. Takuma was worried about something and Sasuke was determined to find out what. He wouldn't press the boy on the matter though. He was nervous enough. Sasuke watched as his children consumed the last of their sweets. Hikari looked around and blinked at her father with inquisitive eyes.

"Where's Mama?" she asked. Something sparked in Sasuke's mind. Sakura was at the hospital, possibly waiting for him. The thought excited him and thankfully he did a good job at hiding it. He definitely didn't want his children to know what he had planned.

"Your mother's working at the hospital. I'm going to go see her," Sasuke said. Kichiro grinned.

"Oooh, are you going on a date?" the young boy that looked almost like a reflection of his father asked. Sasuke refrained from blushing, but instead smirked.

"Something like that," his eyes then fell onto his eldest son, Takuma. "Take your brother and sister home. If your mother didn't make lunch before she left for work, make something. Just...don't burn anything," Sasuke said, rubbing Takuma's head. "And you two..." Sasuke said, casting a stern look at his youngest children. "Takuma is in charge until your mother and I return. If you cause him any trouble, you'll answer to me. Understood?" Sasuke said.

Kichiro and Hikari nodded synchronistically and Sasuke dipped his head, giving his children permission to go. The thought of his children navigating the crowded streets of Konoha alone did frighten the father within Sasuke, but he knew no harm would come to them. No one in this village or in the rest of the world that knew of Sasuke's reputation would dare think ill of his children.

As his children went out of view, Sasuke sighed and smiled within. His feet carried him towards the hospital where Sakura worked. Sasuke entered the building, quickly glancing around the hospital lobby. He expected Sakura to be waiting for him, but he didn't see her. Sasuke smirked. It looked like they were going to be playing hide and go seek. Sasuke passed by the front desk and headed towards the upper levels, clearing every hallway he went to and constantly looking for clues as he went. Some hospital nurses even offered to give Sasuke direction, but he stubbornly refused. He'd find his cherry blossom treasure.

When he had finished scoping out the second floor, Sasuke went upstairs looked down the end of the hall on the third floor to a dark room and the only one on the floor. With his Sharingan activated briefly, Sasuke could clearly see the room number. 328. Sakura's birthday. Slowly, Sasuke approached the room, utilizing all of his shinobi stealth training to avoid being seen or heard. The door was locked as he expected but he made quick work of it and entered the room. Sasuke's Sharingan activated and he glanced around the room. He could see perfectly in the darkness and his eyes caught sight of what he was searching for.

Sakura laid in the hospital bed with the doctor's coat spread on the bed and in lingerie. Sasuke's glowing red Sharingan eyes indicated it was him and if Sakura was unsure, Sasuke spoke.

"You were harder to find than I'd thought you'd be," he crept forward to the bed. Sakura grinned in the dark.

"The hawk tracks it's prey before swooping down to get it's catch," Sasuke paused as Sakura slid her panties down and spread her legs. "Are you ready to eat, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke smirked. He hadn't been called "Sasuke-kun" in years. The very name brought back memories, ones he cherished and some he wished to reenact in the bed. As Sasuke's lips made his way to his wife's and their eyes met in the darkness, his rubies reflecting off of her emeralds, he had one thought.

_I love my "boring" life._


	2. Incredulity

Sasuke sipped a steaming cup of tea, closing his eyes as the warmth of the liquid heated his chest. Across the table from him, Takuma was barely touching his food, staring blankly down at his plate. After their brief training session at the Spot, Sasuke and Takuma had returned home. Initially, Sasuke's eldest son was dragging himself to his room, showing signs of clear exhaustion. Now, at three in the morning, Takuma had entered the kitchen to heat up his dinner from earlier. The fact that he had barely touched the food was disconcerting to the older Uchiha. After he had sipped his tea, Sasuke spoke.

"Takuma," he said. His son's green eyes shot up as if Sasuke's voice had broken him out of a trance.

"Yes?" the boy asked. Sasuke raised his cup to his mouth to sip tea again then continued the conversation.

"If you aren't going to eat your food, you need to go to sleep. Your exam is in exactly five hours," Sasuke said. Takuma looked down at his food and then back up into Sasuke's eyes.

"Yes, Father, but..." he said. Sasuke raised his hand.

"Being late to your exam because you overslept is not an excuse your instructor will want to hear nor is it one I'll accept. If you're having trouble sleeping, I can give you something that'll help you sleep for a few hours," Sasuke said. Takuma sighed.

"Father..." the boy said. "I'm just nervous." Sasuke nodded and drank from his cup.

"You still haven't explained why," he said coolly. In actuality, Takuma had only barely mentioned that he areas in his test that he was concerned about. Sasuke had grilled him on every aspect of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu for his written test and had helped him perfect his transformation, substitution and clone jutsu to the point where Sasuke knew that the only way to improve the jutsu was to move to the next level. Yet, the boy was still incredibly nervous.

Takuma sighed and twiddled his fingers. "It's...a girl." Sasuke's eye twitched and his palm almost slapped his face. But before he did anything, Takuma continued talking, almost in a whisper. "Her name's Honami...Uzumaki." Sasuke's eye widened marginally.

"The Hokage's daughter..." he said, withholding the shock from his voice.

Sasuke had been present for Honami's birth, only weeks after Takuma had been born. Naruto had been a nervous wreck, sending clones out to do his Hokage work while he stayed at the hospital fretting over Hinata and the fact that Sakura wouldn't be available to bring his first child into the world. Sasuke had never been one for moral support, but he did his best to keep his hyperactive friend calm and focused. When Honami had finally been born, she had vibrant red hair, the distinctive trademark of the old Uzumaki clan and the pale, almost colorless eyes of a Hyūga. She was a beautiful and healthy child and Naruto's eyes were flooded with tears.

To hear that Takuma had an interest in Honami wasn't entirely surprising to Sasuke though. The two had played together when they were young, but when Kichiro had been born, Sasuke sought to make sure that his two sons shared a strong bond thus separating Takuma and Honami. Naruto and Hinata had struggled to produce another child for years until four years prior when they had their second child, a stillborn boy, leaving Honami an only child. Sasuke had always felt guilty for separating them. It only felt right now that the two of them would become close in adolescence.

Takuma nodded from across the table. "Yes, sir," he said. He looked up into Sasuke's stoic face and when the elder Uchiha nodded for him to continue, he did. "It's just that, I know I'll do well during my exam. I'm confident enough to know that I'll get the highest scores on every test I take...but Honami will also get high scores. She's very talented and will probably be in the top five of our class," Takuma said.

Sasuke nodded. Honami was definitely a far cry from her father during his Academy days. From what Sasuke knew about her as word spread amongst the jōnin, Honami had overwhelming potential. But that couldn't be what bothered his son. There had to be something deeper.

"Is that what concerns you, then? That her scores might come close to yours?" Sasuke asked. Takuma half nodded.

"Somewhat," he said. "Father, I know how the whole team dynamic works. They try to round out the teams so that they're balanced. I'll probably be teamed up with people that are either in the middle of the rankings or barely passing. I don't have a problem with that at all. It's just...I'd rather be on a team with Honami," Takuma said. Sasuke wanted to smirk. Takuma had never been the talkative one; that character trait had fallen onto Kichiro and was probably a curse that Sasuke had unintentionally given the boy by naming Naruto as his godfather. But now that Honami was the subject, Takuma had much to say.

Nevertheless, Sasuke had to talk sense into the boy.

"Takuma...if what you're saying is true, the only way you'd end up on a team with Honami is if one of you two completely fails the test." Sasuke's eyes bore into Takuma's. "And I'm not going to let you sabotage your exam because of a girl," Sasuke said. Takuma looked with his mouth agape before he suddenly sealed it shut. Sasuke stared forward and continued to speak. "You are an Uchiha. You bear the name of the most powerful and feared clan in the world and you are my son. You'll do well because you have the ability."

"But Father, I..." Takuma started. Sasuke's glare cut him off. Throughout his life, Sasuke had been blessed with eyes that spoke every sentiment he had. Everyone Sasuke had ever known knew exactly what he thought from his eyes alone and that included his children. But with Takuma, Sasuke felt the need to enforce his point.

"I know what you want. You and Honami can become close despite being on separate teams. There's no law stating you can't be friends with someone on another team," Sasuke said. Takuma pursed his lips and looked away.

"Were you and Mother ever on separate teams?" the boy asked. Sasuke stared back in silence, his tea cup held to his mouth. The question Takuma asked stabbed at past events that Sasuke had tried his hardest to withhold from his children. A past filled with murder, hatred and pain. After Sasuke had been accepted back into Konoha, Naruto outlawed any talk of the four year stretch that Sasuke had spent as a vengeful criminal. Takuma even asking if he and Sakura had ever been separated sent a chill of paranoia down Sasuke's spine. He would have to be...selectively honest with his son.

"Well, yes, we were. Some missions I took...your mother wasn't necessarily qualified to go on," Sasuke said, before setting down his cup. "But our separation didn't destroy our relationship. In fact, it made it stronger. Made me realize what I truly needed..." Sasuke said, trailing off. Takuma looked forward, curiosity shining clearly in his face, intelligent and innocent. Like Itachi's had been. Sasuke shook his head of the images of his brother that crept into his mind and looked back at his son. "One day, when you're mature enough and ready...I'll tell you some things about me and our clan that you'll need to hear from me and no one else."

Takuma nodded slowly. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. Sasuke dipped his head and closed his eyes.

"Just don't forget what I said about your exam. Do your best. I expect nothing less from you," he said. Takuma yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, Father..." the boy said. Sasuke smirked and walked towards his eldest son, rubbing his head as the boy finished yawning.

"Go to bed, Takuma. I'll get you up in a few hours." Takuma stood to his feet and stretched. Sasuke pulled the boy close to him and embraced him, briefly. "Goodnight, son," Sasuke said. Takuma nodded as he slogged to his room.

"Goodnight, Father," Takuma said as he disappeared behind the closed door of his room. Sasuke stood in the kitchen alone for a little as he pondered on Takuma's situation. He believed in his heart that his son would follow his instructions and do well on his exam. That wasn't the issue. It felt like the secrets of his past were creeping up on him and he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Takuma was a quietly curious boy. If he wanted to find something out, he'd look into it and draw from multiple sources until he filtered it down to a single truth.

But, Takuma was patient. Sasuke knew that his son trusted him enough to wait, at least he hoped he did.

With these thoughts in his mind, Sasuke left his tea cup in the sink and walked to the end of the hallway to his bedroom. Sasuke dropped his robe as he climbed into his bed and wrapped his arms around Sakura, kissing her softly on her neck. The pink haired kunoichi giggled and turned to face. Sasuke smiled at her and the two shared a brief kiss. When their lips parted, Sasuke sighed.

"We have a bit of a problem," Sasuke said, brushing his wife's hair from her face.

"Oh?" Sakura asked, leaning up on her elbow and resting her chin on her wrist. "What kind of problem?" Sasuke turned onto his back and sighed.

"Well, two. The first one being Takuma likes a girl enough to want to self-sabotage his Academy exam in order to be on the same team as her," Sasuke said. Sakura laughed and Sasuke glanced over towards her. "What?" he asked.

"So he finally tells you, the morning of his exam. We had a very shrewd child it seems," Sakura said. Sasuke sat up and looked Sakura up and down.

"He told you already?" Sasuke asked. Sakura nodded and rubbed Sasuke's chin.

"He did. He made me promise not to say anything to you until he could properly gauge your reaction," the woman said. Sasuke nodded. It made sense even it was somewhat disappointing. While Sasuke did spend enjoyable, fun-filled days with his children, he was also known as a stern disciplinarian. Sakura was much more relaxed and open with the children.

"And your thoughts on this situation?" Sasuke asked. Sakura shrugged.

"Well...I did tell him that purposely scoring low to get placed on the same team as Honami could be seen as 'romantic', it wasn't a good idea. Honami could easily not get a high score and end up in the middle of the rankings," Sakura said. Sasuke agreed.

"Well, what do you think about Honami...for our son?" Sasuke asked. Sakura laughed and laid her head on Sasuke's chest as she spoke.

"Sasuke, they're eleven years old. Takuma has a little crush. I doubt it's that serious," Sakura said. Sasuke scoffed and looked down at his wife.

"I know someone else who had a little childhood crush. A couple people, actually. They're married to the people they wanted and now their children might start connecting," Sasuke said with a sly grin. Sakura rolled her eyes and pat Sasuke's chest.

"I'll give you that," she said, playfully reluctant. "Also, Takuma could've chosen worse young girls to crush on. Honami's not a bad girl. She's certainly got more of Naruto's personality than Hinata's, but Takuma might need someone a little more energetic," Sakura paused and then looked up at Sasuke. "But once again, they're only eleven. We've got some years before we have to worry about that," Sasuke nodded and rubbed his wife's shoulder.

"Now, for the second problem..." Sasuke said. "I think someone may have said something to Takuma about us...and our past. Has he brought that to your attention?" Sakura shook her head. When Sasuke looked down at her, he could make out a small vestige of worry.

"No, he hasn't. What makes you think someone said something to him?" Sakura asked.

"He asked if you and I had ever been on separate teams," Sasuke replied, sighing. "I've told him about my tenure with Team 7 up until the end of the Chunin Exams. I haven't said anything to him about the two years I was gone or the year that followed...but I think he may be curious," Sasuke said. Sakura bit her lip, a look that made Sasuke even more internally worried.

"When will you tell them, all of them?" Sakura asked.

"When they're ready." Sakura sighed after Sasuke's answer.

"Sasuke, you know as well as I do that if we hold back on telling them the entire story 'until they're ready', someone will come into their lives and tell them a twisted version of what happened," Sakura said. Sasuke shook his head and stared at the ceiling.

"There's no way anyone could tell a story more twisted than the actual truth, Sakura. You and I both know that," Sasuke said.

The Uchiha closed his eyes as images of his nightmarish former life played back in his head. The people he'd killed, the lives he'd destroyed, all for hatred and the pursuit of vengeance. Something warm and wet trickled from Sasuke's eye, a tear he recognized. The tear rolled down his cheek and dripped from his chin. Sakura pulled herself up next to Sasuke and held his head in her arms as Sasuke let loose silent tears before he finally spoke.

"I don't want our children to know about any of it. I don't want Takuma, Kichiro and Hikari to hear that their father killed his own brother, attacked his friends...nearly killed their mother..." Sasuke shook his head. Sakura rubbed Sasuke's head and cooed in his ear.

"You don't have to tell them all now and when it happens, you won't have to do it alone. I'll be there for you like I always have been," Sakura said softly. Sasuke let another tear fall before he gathered himself and rolled over, climbing on top of Sakura. Their kiss was long, meaningful and passionate...almost as passionate as his words.

"I love you," Sasuke said, kissing down Sakura's neck, eliciting a quiet moan from her. As the passions flared, Sasuke felt Sakura squirm under his touch. Her legs wrapped around his waist and Sasuke could feel her pulling him in closer.

"I love you too," Sakura breathed.

The sun rose three hours later, climbing over the horizon and shining into Sasuke's bedroom. The golden light touched Sakura's body, causing Sasuke's pink-haired kunoichi to shine like a goddess. Sasuke's eyes were still heavy from lack of sleep but he pushed his body to get up. Sasuke yawned as he rolled out of bed and stretched, cracking his shoulders and his neck. The Uchiha grabbed his robe from the floor and put it on as he went out into the hallway toward Takuma and Kichiro's room.

Sudden movement caught Sasuke's eye and he turned to the kitchen, looking out to the small field behind his house. Outside, Takuma was rehearsing for the physical portion of the exam, performing his transformations and clones perfectly. Sasuke stood in the kitchen and watched his son in silence. Takuma stopped and turned as if he felt Sasuke's presence. After seeing his father, Takuma headed back towards the house.

"Good morning, Father," Takuma said as he finally step foot into the house, panting from his earlier exertion. Sasuke dipped his head.

"Good morning," Sasuke replied. "You're up rather early." Takuma nodded and wiped the sweat that dripped from his brow.

"Just making sure I know the exact amount of chakra to use. I don't want to get in front of everyone and start floundering in front of everyone in class," the boy said. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and the nodded.

"Alright. Go take a shower and then get dressed. Your exam begins in an hour," Sasuke said.

Takuma walked out into the hallway and into the bathroom. Sasuke walked into the room that Takuma and Kichiro shared and saw the younger of the brothers laid sprawled across the bed and snoring lightly. Sasuke smiled and sat on the edge of the bed for a while. Kichiro's fingers twitched in his sleep and moaned. Whatever dream the boy was having was clearly exciting to him. Sasuke decided to let him sleep. His classes didn't start until after the Academy exams concluded anyway.

Sasuke rubbed Kichiro's head and left the room. As he did, Takuma headed down the hallway and sprinted to his room. Sasuke noticed that time had started to escape him. If he was going to take Takuma to the Academy, he'd after to hurry and get dressed. Fortunately, speed was Sasuke's strong point. Within moments of entering the room, Sasuke dashed around the room, dressing himself in his jonin uniform, complete with his dark green flak jacket, short sleeved black shirt with the Uchiha clan emblem on the shoulder and his black arm protectors that covered everything from his wrists to his elbow.

Sasuke kissed Sakura's forehead, whispered a goodbye and then exited his bedroom and waited for Takuma. His son rushed out of the room, dressed in a high-collared black shirt and white shorts. Takuma looked up at Sasuke and for a moment, it looked like the boy was staring in awe. Takuma snapped out of it and nodded to Sasuke.

"I'm ready," the boy said. Sasuke smiled and placed his hand on Takuma's head.

"You'll do well, son," Sasuke said. Takuma smiled back and nodded. The two Uchiha walked outside and stopped in front of the house. Sasuke slowly discharged chakra from his body and held onto Takuma as the two disappeared in a puff of smoke. The quick Body Flicker took them through the village quickly, traveling over the rooftops until they finally arrived in front of the Academy building.

"Just a bit too slow," a familiar voice said, laughing. Sasuke held Takuma as his body readjusted from the technique and looked up. The white cloak trimmed in red flames flowed in the wind, the red kanji written on the back spelling "Sixth Hokage". Sasuke closed his eyes and smirked.

"Good morning to you too, Naruto," Sasuke said as he stood up. The Sixth Hokage smiled widely and the old friends bumped fists. Takuma bowed his head as the Hokage's eyes went to him.

"Good morning, Lord Hokage," he said. Naruto raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the boy.

"Geez, you don't have to be so formal, Takuma. You'd think I wasn't your honorary uncle or something," Naruto laughed. Takuma cracked a small smile and then suddenly froze. Sasuke stared down at his son and then attempted to follow his gaze, finally catching sight of what he had his eyes on. Behind Naruto, a girl with mid-length red hair stood, talking with a few other girls Takuma's age. It was Honami Uzumaki. Seeing Takuma's reaction, Sasuke recognized the severity of the boy's infatuation and he knew that Naruto noticed it too.

"Takuma," Sasuke said. The boy snapped his head up and looked at Sasuke and then at Naruto before he blushed slightly. Naruto smirked and Sasuke sighed. "Go ahead to your class or you'll be late." The young Uchiha nodded quickly and walked away from the two adults and headed inside of the Shinobi Academy building. When the boy was gone, Naruto turned to Sasuke with a fox-like grin.

"So...your son's got a crush on my daughter, huh?" Naruto said. Sasuke's face remained unmoved.

"Apparently," he said. Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Do you disapprove?" he asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"I think you're supposed to be the one that approves or disapproves your daughter's relationships," Sasuke jabbed. Naruto grinned.

"Well, I'm still learning this parenting thin," he laughed. Sasuke smirked.

"Indeed," he said before sighing softly. "I don't have a problem with them being close so long as it doesn't distract Takuma from his studies...which it kind of has." Naruto looked over at the Uchiha.

"It's that bad, huh? He hasn't been failing, has he?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"Not at all. In fact, he's at the top of his class. I thought you knew that, Hokage," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"I do. It's just been a month since I received the last progress reports from the Academy's graduating class. Anything could happen within that period," Naruto pointed out. Sasuke agreed and then sighed.

"I don't know if this is a request that might sound nepotistic, er, selfish but Takuma was willing to sacrifice his class ranking in order to be possibly teamed with Honami. So..." Sasuke said. Naruto smiled.

"You want me to put Takuma and Honami on the same squad?" Naruto said. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He hated how Naruto always seemed to be able to read his mind. He didn't know why it surprised him so much. The two were practically as close as brothers.

"Only if it wouldn't be too much to add to your agenda," Sasuke said. Naruto laughed.

"Ah, don't worry. It's already done," Naruto said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"It is?" he asked. Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, Honami actually asked me to do it a couple of days ago. When she hits me with those eyes...it's not much I can do to resist." To Sasuke's chagrin, Naruto bumped his arm with his elbow and grinned. "I think this little adolescent crush may be mutual," the blonde man said. Sasuke scoffed lightly.

"Good. I'd hate for Takuma to get his heartbroken," Sasuke replied coolly. "So what's the catch to this arrangement? From what Takuma's told me, he and Honami are in the top of their class. In order to keep the teams balanced, you'll have to put one of the lowest ranking students in their team," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"Exactly. I have a kid in mind for that position. He ranks low but I think if he's teamed up with the two of our kids, there's no way he won't progress," Naruto said.

"Who's the kid? I hope you won't choose someone that holds our children back in the Academy," Sasuke said. Naruto shook his head.

"No, I don't think he will. He just needs a little more help," Naruto said.

"Naruto. Who's the kid?" Sasuke said, sternly.

As Naruto opened his mouth to respond, Sasuke heard a boy yelling as he raced down the street. The boy had spiky burnt orange hair and a long multi-shaded blue coat, glasses with orange lenses and dark blue pants. At first glance, Sasuke thought he had a flashback of Naruto getting to class late. Then the Hokage nudged Sasuke into the present and nodded towards the boy.

"That's him. Shōgo Kazuma, dead last in the Academy class," Naruto said, almost beaming with pride. Sasuke glanced over to him and shook his head. It was just like Naruto to root for the underdog. He had lived his life as an underdog and eventually, he had come out on top. Now, whenever anyone was dead last, Naruto gave them his full support. Sasuke folded his arms.

"What family is he from? Are his parents anyone I'd know?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Probably not. His mother's a civilian. His father died a few years ago from a chronic disease and it's been him, his mother and little sister ever since. He has something he wants to protect and he's going through the Academy to do it," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded and watched the boy crash through the door.

"Hopefully, he gets the help he needs," Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Have you decided on a squad leader for them?" Sasuke asked. Naruto looked over towards him and grinned a grin so familiar that it almost set off a fire inside of Sasuke. His face twisted into a scowl while Naruto's smile grew larger and larger. After an awkward moment of staring, Naruto finally spoke.

"I have one in mind. I'll be letting him know soon, though," Naruto said. Sasuke frowned. He knew exactly who Naruto had in mind...

"I'm not going to lead a squad of Genin, especially not one with my son on it. There needs to be some level of separation when it comes to these things. Besides, do you honestly think that Shōgo kid could last half an hour of training with me?" Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"Actually, I do. If your eight year old Academy student can hang with you, I'm sure Shōgo will be able to manage. I think it'll be good for you," Naruto said. Sasuke scoffed.

"Do you really want me training your daughter, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Naruto paused and smiled sheepishly.

"Perhaps...on second thought, I could choose someone else," Naruto said, rubbing his chin. Sasuke nodded although he knew that Naruto was only feigning defeat in the argument. Once Naruto made up his mind, there was virtually nothing anyone could do to change it.

If Sasuke was to become the leader of his own team...it almost made him nauseous to think about it. He had never had much of a problem leading people, but in general, he cared very little for the prospect of leadership. At his core, Sasuke was a loner and he wished to stay that way.

As Naruto turned towards Sasuke again to start another conversation, there was a whirl in the wind that drew both of their attention. A figure appeared in front of Naruto and Sasuke, dressed in a green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers, Sasuke recognized the man instantly. The self-proclaimed "Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village" stood up straight before bowing to Naruto.

"Lord Hokage," he said before then turning to Sasuke and dipping his head. "Sasuke." Naruto narrowed his eyes and Sasuke's face remained like flint.

"Lee...everything alright?" Naruto asked. "You've left your post." Rock Lee bowed again and Sasuke sighed.

"Forgive me, Lord Hokage. But an important situation came up at the entrance that requires your presence," Lee said. Sasuke furrowed his brow.

"What's going on? Are we being attacked?" Sasuke asked, although he had no idea who would have the gall to atack Konoha with both Naruto and Sasuke present. Thankfully, Rock Lee shook his head and looked to Naruto.

"No, no, nothing like that...well, I hope not. Just come with me," Lee said, then casting his eyes on Sasuke. "You need to come too." Sasuke frowned. Instead of asking any more questions, Sasuke looked toward the Academy building and sighed. He looked to Naruto and gave him silent consent. When Naruto nodded to Rock Lee, the three of them leapt away from the Academy, disappearing into the air as they traveled high above Konoha.

As they cut through the air, Sasuke felt the same horrible feeling he had felt earlier resurface. This time, the paranoia couldn't be shaken. The Uchiha's nerves didn't settle in the slightest until he, Naruto and Lee landed near the Konoha gate.

Standing guard were two other jonin that Sasuke didn't know but Naruto spoke their names as he passed them. Sasuke didn't pay any attention to him. He just stared forward. Naruto glanced over to Sasuke and opened his mouth to say something until he turned his head and followed his gaze.

"Oh, shit..." Naruto muttered softly.

A woman with long, straight red hair and glasses stood behind the two jonin and she fixed them when she caught sight of Sasuke. The woman then looked down to her side and said something, supposedly to whoever was with her. The two Konoha jonin then parted and Sasuke saw as the woman and the person concealed next to her stepped forward. Sasuke gulped as his heart pounded in his chest. His eyes certainly didn't deceive him.

In front of them stood Karin and to her side, a boy. A boy with a face that looked eerily similar to Sasuke's...


	3. Mockingbirds & Hawks

**A/N: Alright, I'd like to address something that I don't know if I've made perfectly clear thus far. As far as the story's setting time-wise, it takes place 17 years after Shippūden, making Sasuke about 33-34.**

* * *

 

It took Sasuke a few moments to realize that he hadn't accidentally been transported to the past nor had he created a juvenile clone of himself subconsciously. The young boy that stood next to Karin stared directly into Sasuke's eyes, something that made the older Uchiha immensely uncomfortable. The boy seemed to be analyzing Sasuke just as much as Sasuke analyzing him. As Sasuke looked over the boy, he noticed differences between him and the child that calmed his heart rate down, but only slightly.

The boy's face was undeniably a near replica of Sasuke's and his hair was style similarly, but the hair color was off. Instead of being jet-black with some small traces of blue, his hair was black with bright red highlights. His eyes weren't black either, instead they were dark gray with traces of violet. His skin was paler than Sasuke's as well. The boy wore an open-collared black shirt and pin-striped black and white pants with black sandals. Initially, Sasuke couldn't tell where he thought he had seen the pinstripes before...then he remembered.

The boy glanced up towards Sasuke. "Mother...is this my father?" the boy said. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and from the questioning look he gave, Sasuke knew what he wanted to know. With a sharp glance, Sasuke shot his question down. Naruto nodded and Sasuke looked back at Karin and her son. Karin smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Sosei, it is," she replied. The boy stared back at Sasuke and scoffed.

"I thought he'd be taller...and less pretty," Sosei remarked. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and frowned at the boy who simply smirked smugly. The Uchiha's onyx gaze then went to Karin, who stood proudly behind her son. Sasuke prayed that Karin could read his mind and see the overwhelming flood of curses he wish to lay into her. Karin rubbed her son's head and looked down at him.

"Be respectful, Sosei," Karin said. Before Sasuke could think of something to say, Naruto cleared his throat and stepped. For the first time since the Forest of Death, Sasuke was thankful that Naruto had saved him. The Sixth Hokage folded his arms, observing both Karin and Sosei.

"Karin, while it is nice to see you after all this time..." Naruto said, attempting to sound calm and impartial. "What exactly are you doing here?" Karin flipped her hair and gripped Sosei's shoulders.

"If you don't mind, Lord Hokage, I'd rather discuss the matter in private," she said. Sasuke glanced towards the two young jonin that had been watching the gate and then to Rock Lee.

Begrudgingly, Sasuke had to agree that Karin did have a legitimate point. Sasuke didn't know the two jonin so automatically, he didn't trust them. On the other hand, Sasuke knew Rock Lee, dislike him and also didn't trust him. Whatever the matter Karin had to discuss, he'd much rather it be done privately. The three of them had already heard enough as it was.

Naruto nodded. "Alright, that's fine," he said.

Naruto approached Karin and Sosei, gesturing for Sasuke to come forward as he did. The older Uchiha walked forward, turning his head back towards Rock Lee and the two jonin. Briefly, Sasuke considered telling them not to say anything about what they had heard, but once again, his eyes said everything he wanted to say. Naruto placed his hands on Sasuke and Karin, who held Sosei close to her. The blonde Hokage nodded to Rock Lee.

"Keep watching the gate, Lee," Naruto said. Rock Lee saluted and bowed. The man's green jumpsuit and glossy bowl cut faded into a golden yellow flash that then materialized into the interior of Naruto's office. Papers flew into the air as the four people appeared. Sasuke watched, unfazed as several Narutos raced around the office, sifting through paperwork and signing documents. When one clone saw that the original had returned with guests, it's eyes widened. Sosei's eyes watched all of the clones with an intense level of intrigue.

"He has shadow clones doing his work for him. What a waste of chakra," Sosei said. Naruto watched as the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke that filled the room and slowly dissipated.

"Don't worry about me, kid. I've got plenty," Naruto said. Sasuke folded his arms and stood near the window next to Naruto's bookshelf. Naruto sat in his chair and Karin followed, sitting in the wooden chairs that sat facing Naruto's desk. Sosei sat beside her, his eyes never leaving Sasuke's. Though Sasuke was sure that his face showed no emotion, internally he wanted to grab the boy by his collar but he restrained himself.

"So," Karin said, crossing her legs. "Now that we're alone..."

"You can tell us what the hell you're doing here." Sasuke snapped. Naruto turned towards Sasuke and the Sixth Hokage's piercing blue eyes conveyed another of their silent messages. Be calm. Sasuke sighed and looked back out of the window. From his peripheral, Sasuke could see Karin adjust her glasses. Naruto rubbed his temples.

"Karin, please..." Naruto said.

"Well, the answer to why I'm here is actually quite simple." Sasuke cast a side glance to Karin as she continued to speak. "Sasuke and I share a child. In a few weeks, Sosei will be fourteen. I didn't want that day to come without him meeting his father." Karin said simply. Sasuke turned completely from the window and glowered at Karin.

"He's met me. You can leave now," Sasuke growled. Karin frowned and fixed her glasses while Sosei folded his arms.

"No, he hasn't," Karin said, before turning her eyes onto Naruto. "Lord Hokage...I'd like to be able to stay here for at least a year. If not me, then just Sosei. He needs to know about his father and his clan. It's his heritage." the red-haired woman looked over at Sasuke and the Uchiha seethed and stepped forward, Naruto's arm barely blocking him from coming from behind the desk. Karin stared back, her face a mix irritating confidence and equally annoying penitence. Sasuke could read her face like an Academy textbook. She knew she was wrong.

Through all the time Sasuke had known Karin, he had never feared that she would ever intentionally turn against him. Even now, Sasuke could feel that the red-haired woman was fully in love with him. The way her face was now, filled with confidence but also regret, reminded Sasuke of how she looked fourteen years ago before she left. Sasuke's anger raged within his chest but he played it cool. He refused to let them know anymore about his inner emotions.

"Before I make any kind of decision, I need some questions to be answered," Naruto said, still calm. Sasuke didn't envy his position as mediator between his party and Karin's. But, the blonde had always been great with utilizing his words and spirit to calm situations. Sasuke nodded.

"Yes," he said. Karin's confident facade faltered slightly.

"Okay," she said. Naruto's fingers made a bridge above his nose.

"You left Konoha fourteen years ago with Suigetsu and the two of you went to Kirigakure. Did you leave knowing that you were pregnant with Sasuke's child?" Naruto asked. Sasuke glanced out of the window, watching as two mockingbirds teamed against a hawk in the air, pecking at it and driving it away. Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed.

"No," Karin answered. "I had suspicions since..." she paused, glancing at Sosei. Sasuke's memory flickered as he recalled the the events fourteen years prior. It had been a brief and emotional moment but in that time, Sasuke couldn't pull away although he had tried his best. She had definitely intended to get pregnant by him before she left. Sasuke was certain. He looked down at Naruto, but the Hokage didn't make eye contact, almost like he refused to.

"Alright," Naruto said, nodding. Sasuke breathed sharply.

"Where's Suigetsu?" the dark eyed Uchiha demanded. Karin shifted slightly in her seat.

"He wanted to stay in Kiri. You know him and his Seven Swordsmen of the Mist dream. Still chasing it after all these years," Karin half-smiled, almost nervously. Naruto nodded absently.

"Did you let the Mizukage know you planned on leaving?" Naruto asked. Again, Karin was slightly frozen until she answered the question.

"No. I left on my own with my son. I wasn't officially a member of Kiri and neither was Sosei. He didn't even graduate from the Academy yet," Karin said. Sosei looked up questioningly at his mother. Karin avoided looking at the boy who turned and looked at Sasuke again. Sasuke stared back at the boy. Something about the boy's gaze intrigued Sasuke. His intense gaze was reminiscent of Sasuke's own. That was something the older shinobi couldn't deny. The boy had the Uchiha's intensity inside of him.

Naruto blinked and nodded. "Alright," he said again, coolly. With a quick hand seal, he created a shadow clone. Dipping his head toward it, he spoke to Karin and Sosei. "My clone will take you to a room across the hall. I need to speak with Sasuke alone," Naruto said.

Before Karin could object, Naruto's clone ushered them out of them and quickly across the hallway. The two old friends sat in silence for a brief stretch of time. Naruto's silence unnerved Sasuke. He had always been used to the blonde being crazily hyperactive and loud. Now, it seemed like the Hokage was meditating.

When he finally did speak, his words were almost whispers. "How could you?" he asked. Sasuke stared down at Naruto and twisted his face in confusion.

"What?" Sasuke inquired in return. In a flash, Naruto was on his feet and staring into Sasuke's face, smoldering with anger. Sasuke's eyes widened as he attempted to back away only to hit Naruto's bookshelf.

"How _could_ you?" Naruto said, pressing forward. "After all the years you and Sakura spent building your relationship, recovering from past traumas and starting a family, how could you _**fuck**_ that up?" Naruto asked, his voice almost reaching a volume high enough to leave the room. Sasuke stared back at Naruto, flustered.

In truth, he wasn't sure how he could've allowed this to happen.

"It was fourteen years ago," Sasuke said, reasoning with himself more than with his enraged friend. "Sakura and I hadn't yet committed to a relationship together. Suigetsu had decided to leave for his homeland and Karin wanted to go with him," Sasuke said. Naruto stood with his fists balled in front of the Uchiha.

"Yeah, I remember. I wanted to give them a chance to be integrated into the village but neither of them wanted that so I let them go," Naruto said. Sasuke looked away from Naruto, back outside and watched as the clouds rolled.

"Karin may have wanted to stay," he said. "The night she left, she came to me. All I remember was that something about her was so alluring to me. Something was different. Whatever it was, it caused me to black out and after that, I know I had a moment of clarity when her legs locked around my waist," Sasuke said. After his words, Naruto backed off slightly and looked with inquisitive blue eyes.

"You think she intended to have your child?" Naruto asked.

"Without a doubt," Sasuke said. "She's always had an obsession with me and somewhat of a hatred for Sakura." Sasuke said. Naruto sighed and planted his hand squarely against his face.

"God...how do you think Sakura is going to react to all of this when she finds out?" Naruto asked, sitting on the edge of his desk. Sasuke's heart felt like it froze in his chest and refused to Sakura found out, he didn't know what she'd do. God forbid, Sasuke's children be exposed to this news. Realization after realization continued to attack Sasuke's mind as he thought on the ramifications of Karin's appearance. Her very presence threatened the continuation of his family and what he strove for years to obtain.

Peace and happiness.

"She _won't_ find out," Sasuke replied, looking directly into Naruto's eyes. "Karin has to leave. Now." Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Sasuke watched as the Hokage stood to his feet and paced around the room, rubbing his chin and muttering softly to himself. When he came to a stop, Sasuke looked up.

"I have two opinions on this," the Hokage said. "I honestly think that Karin genuinely wants Sosei to get to know about you and his heritage. Like it or not, you can't deny that kid. He looks exactly like a repainted version of you. I'd go as far to say that only Kichiro shares that much of a resemblance to you. Sosei has the blood of our country's greatest clan in his veins without a question," Naruto said.

As much as Sasuke wanted to argue Naruto's point, he couldn't. Everything he said was true. If Sosei's hair and eyes were pure black, he'd look identical to Sasuke. Also, if nothing else, Karin did really seem to want Sasuke to meet his long lost son, despite how much he didn't even want to acknowledge either of their existences.

"But," Naruto continued. "I think there's something she's hiding. She was rather dodgy whenever I asked about anything related to Kirigakure. Something was also off about her saying she wasn't an official member of the village. After fourteen years, she should've been accepted unless she continuously refused." Sasuke frowned.

"But why raise your child in a place that didn't accept you?" he asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Maybe she had always had hopes of getting back here to raise Sosei with you? I don't know. Them not being 'a part' of the village, her just leaving...it just doesn't make sense," Naruto said. A light went off inside of Sasuke's brain and he pointed at Naruto.

"The boy, Sosei...she said he hadn't graduated from the Academy yet...but he was wearing pinstriped pants and a black shirt. Add a grey flak jacket and a headband and he's dressed like a Kiri chunin," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed that too," the blonde man said, shaking his head. Sasuke frowned.

"What if Karin and Sosei are classified as missing-bin from Kiri?" he asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Their hunter-nun would've caught up to them by now. Besides, the age of deadly secrets amongst the great nations is over. The Shinobi Alliance..." Naruto said.

"Was a temporary alliance to fight against Madara, Obito and Kabuto during the war, " Sasuke interjected. "Is the 'Age of Deadly Secrets' truly over, Naruto? I surely hope you aren't farming out secrets to all the other Kage about how Konoha is doing," Sasuke said, folding his arms. Naruto raised his hand and sighed.

"I'd never," he said. The Sixth Hokage then leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly as he rubbed his temples. "This entire situation just keeps getting more complicated. I need time to think about all of this," he said. "Until then..."

"Until then?" Sasuke asked.

"Until then...I'll find Karin a hotel on the other side of Konoha away from you and your family. I'll install jonin guards to escort her so that she can't leave and harass you. She's traveled this far, it would be a mark against my reputation to turn her away immediately. Tomorrow, I'll call you both in and we'll move on from there," Naruto said. Sasuke frowned but he knew that there was no way he could persuade Naruto eject Karin from the village immediately. He had no choice but to wait for Naruto's decision.

"Fine, that'll have to suffice," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded and smirked.

"Speaking of decisions...given the current situation, I've decided to postpone my jonin squad leader pick for now. At least until we've cleared all of this up," Naruto said. Sasuke didn't know if he should have been thanking Naruto or punching him repeatedly.

"I still think that's a horrible decision," Sasuke said.

"You would know more about horrible excisions than me," Naruto laughed. Sasuke growled softly.

"Shut up," he said. Sasuke gazed out of the window and saw a large crowd gathering below. They must've been the parents for the Academy graduation exam results. In the crowd, Sasuke's avian eyes caught sight of the trademark pink hair of both his wife and his daughter Hikari. Beside them, Sasuke's younger son, Kichiro was excitedly leaping up and down. Sasuke smiled as he watched his family, his real family. Then he paused. Sakura was here and far too close to Karin and Sosei.

As if he was reading Sasuke's mind, Naruto tapped his friend on the shoulder. Sasuke turned to see the Hokage's grin. "Don't worry. My clone will watch them until everyone's cleared away from the building. After that, I'll make sure that they get there without anyone seeing them," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded.

Although Naruto generally wasn't a master of stealth like he was, he knew that his friend wouldn't fail him. Smiling, Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Are you ready to go down?" the blonde Hokage asked. Sasuke dipped his head.

"Absolutely," he said. Within moments, Naruto and Sasuke appeared below under the shade of the trees in front of the Academy. Sakura, Hikari, Kichiro and Hinata stood distinctly amongst the excited crowd of people. Sasuke also noticed several of the Konoha 11 present in the masses. Relieved to see his cherry blossom, Sasuke couldn't hold himself back from walking over to her. Naruto followed him and changed his course to get to Hinata.

Sasuke hugged Sakura from behind and kissed her cheek. "Cherry Blossom," he growled in her ear. Sakura jumped and turned her head enough to see him and she smiled at him.

"Not in public. You know what that does to me," she whispered before kissing him. After their lips parted, Kichiro and Hikari looked up and saw Sasuke. The children's faces lit up and Hikari grabbed his leg.

"Papa!" she cried with glee. Sasuke smiled as he lifted his daughter into the air and kissed her cheek. His little light clung to his flak jacket and kissed him back. Sasuke's youngest son, Kichiro smiled and hugged his father.

"They just said that the graduation exam was over! Takuma's waiting to see if he gets to become a Genin!" Kichiro said.

"He should. He's got his father's skill," Naruto grinned as he approached with Hinata at his side. The Hokage's bride was as elegant and beautiful as she ever had been, her long violet hair draped down her back and her dress modestly fitting her shape. Hinata dipped her head as Sasuke made eye contact with her.

"Hello, everyone," she said softly. Sasuke smiled politely and Sakura walked towards the former Hyùga heiress and hugged her. The two women then walked away from Naruto and Sasuke. The Uchiha's eyes watched them as they talked amongst themselves. If he had been a nosy man, his Sharingan could easily read their lips and see what they were saying. Instead, Sasuke kept his eyes on the Academy entrance.

"Nervous?" Naruto asked his friend. Sasuke blinked.

"Not at all," Sasuke replied. Naruto grinned.

"The amount of sheer arrogance standing next to me is astounding," he chuckled.

"When'd you start using words like 'astounding'? Has Shikamaru been helping you expand your vocabulary?" Sasuke asked. Naruto pouted and folded his arms.

"No," he said, looking away. "Well some things, but not 'astounding'."Sasuke smirked and counted another win on his belt.

"Right," he said.

The two fathers watched the entrance of the Academy in anticipation. Finally, the front door opened and Udon, the old teammate of Konohamaru and the chunin proctor in charge of the graduating class, walked out.

With a wide smile, he proclaimed, "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! May I introduce to you, this year's graduating Genin!" As the children began to leave the building, the parents began to cheer loudly, including Naruto. Sasuke sat in silence and waited as Udon raised the paper he had to his face. "First, I'll name the top five highest scoring Genin," he said. "At number five, Hajime Hyūga!"

Sasuke watched as the brown-haired Hyūga boy stepped forward, his pale eyes looking out over the crowd. He had a conceited grin on his face that reminded Sasuke of a very young Neji. Udon continued reading down the list.

"At number four, Kohei Mizutani," another family Sasuke had never heard of. He almost felt embarrassed to not know about the genin that were being put in the same class as his son. Kohei stepped forward, his messy black hair covering his right eye. He peered around, entirely uninterested in the festivities. In fact, the kid looked tired. Sasuke understood his plight.

"Mimi Inuzuka is number three," Udon said. Sasuke heard an ecstatic "ALRIGHT! WAY TO GO!" shoot from the crowd followed by a thunderous bark that could only belong to Kiba and his giant white dog, Akamaru. Kiba's daughter, Mimi wasn't the feral child he expected at all. In fact, she was quite pretty. Her puppy, on the other hand, was a mottled mutt. Speckled with gold, white, and black, the dog should've been a handsome companion. Instead, it's fur was unkempt and dirty. Nevertheless, Kiba's daughter pet it with pride.

Love was blind, it seemed.

"And finally," Udon said with a wide grin. "The two students tied with the highest scores and none other than the children of our Hokage and Sasuke Uchiha, Takuma Uchiha and Honami Uzumaki!" As Takuma and Honami stepped forward, Sasuke felt his face beam with pride. On his forehead, Takuma wore his Leaf headband, the first true mark of his status as a Konoha shinobi. Honami wore her headband around her left arm which she used to rub Takuma's shoulder, grinning like her father as she did.

Takuma blushed and Sasuke could feel Naruto's eyes baring into him as he smiled. Sasuke ignored it. All he wanted to focus on was how far Takuma had come thus far and how much further he still had to go. As his now second eldest son came towards them, his face lit up with the excitement of being made a genin, Sasuke's mind could only think of the trouble Karin and Sosei's presence caused.

The Uchiha and Uzumaki families went to the Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant to celebrate their children's success. Sasuke wasn't much of a ramen connoisseur and let Naruto suggest for once what he should order. Like his godfather, Kichiro had an intense love for ramen. Everyday, Sasuke sometimes wondered if somehow, he had had the wrong child. Takuma and Honami sat side by side, talking about how excited they were to be genin. Sakura rubbed Sasuke's arm and laid her head on his shoulder.

"They're adorable." she whispered. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Normally, Takuma was quiet, reserved and analytical. Around Honami, Sasuke could finally see his son's personality brighten. It was an amazing sight for him to see. His son was growing up before his eyes.

Had he truly missed that with Sosei?

This question plagued Sasuke's mind all through the dinner and all the way home. After tucking his children into bed, Sasuke laid in his own, tossing and turning like a madman as he attempted to find some sort of peace in his head. Eventually, Sakura rolled over, resting her head on his chest as she looked up at him.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" she yawned, rubbing her hand on the Uchiha's chest. Once again, Sasuke was tasked with being selectively honest with a family member.

"Naruto wants me to be the squad leader for Takuma's team," Sasuke said. Sakura smiled and tilted her head to the side when Sasuke didn't smile back.

"Wait, why is that a problem?" she asked. "He's your son. There's no one better to train him," Sakura said. Sasuke shook his head.

"Genin and jonin squads aren't just about training to fight. They're about teaching morals and ethics. All of which, I seem to lack," Sasuke said. Sakura sighed.

"Still worried about the past?" she asked. Sasuke nodded.

"I always am. It seems like everything from the past resurfaces," he said. Sakura traced her fingers down Sasuke's stomach and past his belly button, reaching into his pants. Sasuke's eye widened as Sakura grabbed him.

"I'm going to tell you two things that will pull you out of your sour mood," Sakura said, slowly twisting her hand up and down. Sasuke's lower extremities stood erect in her grip and Sasuke could the stress leaving him already.

"What two things?" he asked. Sakura slowly pulled Sasuke's pants down, never losing eye contact with her husband.

"One, Hinata's pregnant but she hasn't told Naruto yet. I don't want you to either," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded and smirked.

"What's the next bit of news?" he asked. Sakura only smiled back as her mouth lowered onto him. The feeling sent Sasuke's mind on an escapade through the stars. As Sakura rose up to go down on him again, she paused. Sasuke heard it too. Hikari was crying.

"Sorry," Sakura said quietly as she leapt up and robed herself. Sasuke watched her go and then stared into the ceiling. He needed to do something about the Karin situation. If Naruto intended to send her away in the morning, he did at least want to speak to her about Sosei before they left. The boy they shared was a petulant, arrogant and rude child, but he was still Sasuke's son, albeit, illegitimate. He had to talk to them. An hour past midnight seemed like a perfect time to do so.

When Sakura returned to the room, she held Hikari in her arms and laid back in bed, rocking back and forth. Sasuke rose out of bed and put on a shirt and sandals.

"What's wrong with the princess?" Sasuke asked.

"Just had a nightmare. You ok?" Sakura asked as Sasuke turned around.

"Yeah, just going for a quick walk. Need to get some air," he said, bending down to kiss her. "Thanks for the tease." Sakura smiled.

"I'll finish later," she cooed. Sasuke smiled back at her.

"I'll hold you to it," Sasuke said as he left the house.

Sasuke's feet led him throughout Konoha, passing through the outskirts of the village to the interior and finally to the other side of Konoha where Naruto had said he'd taken Karin and Sosei to. The hotel was a tourist resort that was reserved mostly for the richest visitors to Konoha. Sasuke realized quickly why Naruto had only wanted for her to be in here for a single night. This entire situation was expensive.

Sasuke entered the hotel and looked around. The lobby was empty and nobody stood behind the desk, leaving Sasuke in a quagmire that he solved quickly. Sasuke tracked down Karin's hotel room using logic. Naruto wouldn't want her presence to be easily discovered and using his name as Hokage, he'd have been able to acquire a high rise room. The most expensive room would be at the top of the hotel. Sasuke used the elevator and ascended up towards the top floor of the hotel, waiting patiently for the ding when the elevator stopped. When it did and the elevator doors opened, Sasuke's eyes widened with shock.

Laying in front of the hotel room door, three cloaked men laid in a puddle of blood. As Sasuke walked closer, he realized that the three men were ANBU Black Ops. Their porcelain masks were cracked and bloodied along with their cloaks. Sasuke's stomach sunk and he felt his heart start to race. Adrenaline pumped into his blood and almost out of instinct, Sasuke activated his Sharingan. Sasuke walked past the bodies, stepping over the blood pools. Inside of the hotel room, Sasuke heard thumping and slamming. Quickly, Sasuke stepped forward and opened the door.

Sosei stood in the middle of the room. In front of him, Sasuke recognized one of the two young jonin that were standing guard at the Konoha gate. When his eyes went to the floor, he saw the second. The jonin in front of Sosei slumped to the floor. When Sosei turned around to see who had entered the room, Sasuke saw the kunai knife in his hand, dripping with the blood of Konoha's finest and the all too familiar scarlet glow of the Sharingan shining in Sosei's eyes...


	4. Painful Mysteries

Sasuke lurched forward, with his hand outstretched. Sosei barely had time to plan on reacting before Sasuke grabbed him by his collar. The young boy wriggled free and flipped away from the older Uchiha, who continued to press forward. Out of either craze or sheer stupidity, Sosei swung his kunai at Sasuke's throat. The veteran dropped his arm down, elbowing Sosei in his bicep and then kicked him in his thigh. Sosei turned away and Sasuke twisted his arm behind his back and threw him against the wall, holding him steady even as he struggled.

"What the hell were you doing?!" Sasuke shouted. When Sosei didn't answer, Sasuke snatched the kunai and held it to the boy's throat. Sasuke's Sharingan sank into his son's. Sosei's Sharingan eyes had only two tomoe between them which told Sasuke that they were freshly activated. Tears dripped from the boy's eyes as he stared into Sasuke's eyes.

No, he wasn't. The boy was staring past Sasuke. Behind him.

"S-Sasuke...don't," a voice wheezed. Sasuke turned and followed the direction of the sound. Looking down, Sasuke's eyes widened. Lying in a pool of her own blood was Karin. Blood dripped from her mouth and chest. Karin's breathing was labored and her eyes struggled to stay open. Slowly, Sasuke lowered Sosei to the floor and the boy ran to his mother's side, resting her head in his arms. Sosei wept and as his cries grew louder, Karin softly hushed him. Sasuke wanted to leave the room. He didn't want to see this. But he needed information.

"Sosei, Karin...what happened?" Sasuke asked. Karin coughed and Sosei stared blankly at her. Sasuke prayed that the boy hadn't gone into shock.

"Our guards...were killed at the door by the two jonin at the gate. They were Kiri hunter-nin disguised as Konoha shinobi," Karin said, her voice rising barely above a whisper. Sasuke frowned. How could the two jonin have been impostors and neither he or Naruto notice? Naruto even spoke their names. They must have killed them also and taken their form. Sasuke had been somewhat wary of them earlier but he attributed it to his normal distrust of people he didn't know. Now, he knew his intuition hadn't been off.

"They rushed in," Sosei said, still sobbing. "Before I could do anything, they grabbed Mother and stabbed her twice through her chest. They had some kind of tube in their hand that they tried to use to take her blood. After they did that, they turned on me. That's when..." Karin coughed up blood and Sosei cradled her upper body and stared into her glazed eyes. "Mother! No! Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone!" he cried.

Karin's eyes looked past Sosei and up to Sasuke. Sasuke froze under her gaze and the sight of Sosei crying over her body. Images flashed back in his head. He saw his own mother and father, slain in the middle of the floor. He saw Itachi emerging from the shadows with his Sharingan eyes glowing bright red and his sword dripping with the blood of his parents. Sasuke felt his heart well up into his throat. He felt something now that he'd thought he never feel.

Compassion.

"Ssh, my child. Don't worry. You won't be alone. You're where you need to be now. Never forget that...I love you," Karin said, smiling. Sosei's face was drowned in tears as Karin coughed again and took in a deep breath, her eyes looking directly into Sasuke's. "Your chakra, Sasuke," she said. "It's grown warmer..." When the words left her mouth, Karin's body went limp. Sosei stared down at his mother before he screamed. The sound was primordial and reminiscent of Sasuke's own. All the older Uchiha could do was stand back and watch.

Sasuke didn't want to connect to the boy. He didn't want his emotions to blind him to what the facts of his life were currently. He was married to Sakura Haruno. He had three children with her. He was being considered to lead a team with his son, Takuma on it. He was a Konoha jonin. Sosei's present would complicate his life. It'd be easier to just disconnect himself and let the boy cry. Take him to Naruto and let the Hokage solve the problem while he went back to living his normal, happy life before Karin and Sosei had arrived to the village. That was what Sasuke wanted.

But he couldn't bring himself to be that cold. He had gone through exactly what Sosei had. He knew that if left unchecked, Sosei's life would go down the path of darkness and for an Uchiha, that path was almost inescapable when love was lost. The awakening of his Sharingan was already an indication that he had stepped foot on the first brick of the road. Sasuke could deny it no longer. Sosei was his seed and now, his responsibility.

Sasuke kneeled down and took Sosei by the shoulder, pulling him towards his chest. Sosei fell back into Sasuke's arms and cried into his father's shirt. Sasuke looked down at Karin and reached to her, closing her eyes and settling her face. Sosei gripped Sasuke's shirt and continued to weep. Sasuke looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He had only course of action now. He needed to talk to Naruto.

And he needed to talk to Sakura.

"Sasuke..." Naruto said as he opened the door. The Hokage then looked down next to the Uchiha and his eyes widened as he saw saw Sosei covered in blood. "What happened?" he asked. Sasuke gently pushed Sosei forward through the door and watched as the boy walked through, his head drooped as he did. Sasuke sighed and rubbed the back of his head as Naruto turned to him. "Where's Karin?" Naruto asked.

"Being examined by the coroner at the police station..." Sasuke said. Naruto stared back.

"Wait...what? She's..." Sasuke nodded.

"Dead. Two Kiri hunters posing as Konoha jonin infiltrated the village. They were the same two jonin that were guarding the gate with Lee. The hunter probably killed them and switched before we got there or maybe it happened afterwards, I don't know. But they slaughtered the guards placed in front of Karin's hotel room and then they killed her. Next, they went after Sosei..." Sasuke said. Naruto frowned.

"Did Sosei tell you this or did you watch this happen?" he asked. Sasuke scowled.

"Sosei told me. When I got there, he had already dispatched the two Kiri shinobi...and he awakened his Sharingan," Sasuke said. Naruto rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"How could I have let this happen? They were under my protection." Naruto said, shaking his head. Sasuke looked to the living room where Sosei stared down at the floor.

"They should've been under our protection. Like the rest of the village. It's my fault, Naruto," Sasuke said, barely believing those words had exited his mouth. Naruto was too and if the situation hadn't been so dire, Sasuke was sure he would've grinned and rubbed it in. Instead, he dipped his head in acknowledgement of Sasuke's point. Naruto scratched his head.

"So...what are you going to do, now?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"I can't hide this. Karin is dead and Sosei's alone now. I'm his only connection to anything now," Sasuke said.

"And what are you going to tell Sakura?" Naruto asked. What could he tell Sakura besides...

"The truth. Hopefully, she won't kill me and she'll listen to reason. From what I remember from Karin and I's interaction fourteen years ago...I may have been drugged or something before we had sex. Given Karin expressed interest in doing that before, I wouldn't put it past her. But for tonight, if you could just...keep Sosei for me," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

"Sure. If things don't go well with Sakura, you don't want Sosei to hear that." Naruto sighed and stretched. "Something's going on in Kirigakure. There has to be a reason that Karin and Sosei fled. I don't think he had any clue, but Karin did. I'm going to have to assemble a team to send the Mizukage a message," Naruto said.

"Let me go. Whoever ordered this..." Sasuke said. Naruto frowned.

"That's not the kind of message I was thinking of. Sending _you_ is an act of war and if the Mizukage is at all involved in this, I want things to be discussed between us peacefully," Naruto said. Sasuke reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Then who's the emissary you'll send?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know. If things are really bad over there, I don't want to put anyone else at risk." Naruto walked back and forth, thinking. "I could just send a clone..." Sasuke shook his head.

"The farther the clone gets from you, the more chakra it'll take to maintain it. For a trip that long..." Sasuke said. Naruto waved his hand.

"Yeah, I know the ins and outs of the jutsu. I'll only give it a small fraction of my chakra. It won't have to eat, sleep or do anything really but move forward until it gets to the Land of Water. After that, it can drop the handwritten message off to the Mizukage. Hopefully, we'll get a quick response so we can arrange a meet-up time," Naruto said. "I'll run it by Shikamaru in a few hours so we can get the specifics of the plan together. Plus, we'll need to hold a ceremony for Karin as well. Anyway, you need to go home and get it ready for Sosei's arrival...and prepare yourself." Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"For what?" he asked. Naruto smirked.

"You meet your new team tomorrow," he said. Sasuke frowned. Naruto could not be fucking serious...but Sasuke was sure that he was. Silently dipping his head, Sasuke sighed and walked past Naruto and into his living room where Sosei sat, still dazed from earlier. Unbeknownst to the boy, Sasuke presumed anyway, his Sharingan was still activated as he stared down at the floor. Even when Sasuke made deliberate noise as he walked forward, Sosei didn't look up.

"Sosei," Sasuke said. "You're going to stay here with the Hokage tonight. I'm going to go get things in order at home so that you can come with me." Sasuke said. Sosei's head barely moved but Sasuke's keen eyes made out a nod. Tears still dripped from Sosei's eyes and Sasuke gulped as he said his next words. "I'm sorry..." Sasuke started. For not keeping you and your mother here. For not being the father you needed in your youth. For wishing you both had been killed so I wouldn't have to face my family with this truth. "...for not getting there in time enough to stop it. But I promise you, there will be retribution in time. Just...sleep." Sasuke said.

With a light tap to a pressure point on Sosei's neck, the boy slumped onto the couch, unconscious. Sasuke turned to see if Naruto disapproved but the Hokage sighed and walked past them both to his bedroom.

"Lock the door on your way out," he said, closing his room door as the last word left his mouth. Sasuke grabbed a blanket that laid on the arm of the couch and placed it over Sosei. After he had bestowed that act of kindness, the Uchiha turned and left the Hokage's mansion and headed home.

If he wanted to, Sasuke could've been home in an instant. Not only had his Body Flicker jutsu improved, but he knew various shortcuts to the Uchiha Estate. But he needed to move slow now. He had to think. What was he going to tell Sakura? If he was going to tell her the truth, he needed to know the entire truth. He only knew bits and pieces. He knew that Karin had come to him and that she had initiated contact and she possibly drugged him in order to continue. For any normal person, this would sound like a lie to cover up infidelity. But Sakura knew as well as Sasuke that Karin had a crazed obsession over him. She had to believe him...

Sasuke entered his house quietly and snuck back to his bedroom. When he opened the door, Sakura was sitting up on the bed. The covers were drawn back like she had just sat down from doing something. Hikari was gone and Sasuke heard the sound of the toilet running as the chamber filled back up with water. Sakura looked up at him and cocked her head to the side.

"Looks like you needed a lot of air," she said sarcastically. Sasuke half-smiled and then sighed. Sakura blinked. "What's wrong?" Sasuke shook his head, his raven-colored locks drifting from right to left.

"I have something I need to tell you. Something I just found out yesterday," Sasuke said. Sakura nodded for him to continue.

"Ok..." she said.

"Fourteen years ago, Karin and Suigetsu left for Kirigakure. But, before she left, Karin came to me. She drugged me and we had sex. That's all I remember. Yesterday, Karin arrived to Konoha with...our son, Sosei. She was supposed to leave tomorrow because Naruto was suspicious of her reasons for being here, but two Kiri hunter-nin got to her and Sosei and killed her. I took Sosei to Naruto so he could stay the night." Sasuke said. Sakura looked forward and slowly nodded.

"Why didn't you just bring him here?" Sakura asked. Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He thought again.

"I-I thought you'd be angry. I didn't want Sosei to think that we didn't want him here...he's alone. I understand how he feels better than anyone." To the Uchiha's surprise, Sakura chuckled softly.

"Oh, I am angry," she said, her voice darkening. She stood up and walked towards Sasuke, fully nude, all of her curves retraced by Sasuke's eyes before he realized that Sakura was getting closer and her face wasn't pleased. "I'm angry that you didn't just tell me yesterday when you found out or earlier this morning when I asked you what was wrong. I know everything about you, Sasuke. There's nothing you can't tell me. I'm here for you. That's what a wife is supposed to do." Sakura said, pressing up against Sasuke. The Uchiha gulped.

"If I would have told you..." Sasuke started.

"I would've killed Karin," Sakura finished without a trace of humor or sarcasm in her voice. "You're absolutely right. She had all this time to bring him here. She could've stayed. But she chose to leave. To come back when she knows you've married and moved on...I would've killed her and it wouldn't have taken much," Sakura said, sighing afterwards after she calmed herself. "There's nothing we can do now to change it though. I'll get the guest room ready so Sosei can stay with us." Sakura said. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Seriously? You'll let him stay?" Sasuke said. Sakura nodded.

"Like you said, he's alone now. I won't let him stay that way." Sakura said. Sasuke smiled and reached out to grab Sakura, kiss her, lay her on the bed and make love to her. Sakura held her hand up and pushed Sasuke away. Sasuke froze as his visions for what he wanted to do to his wife started to fade away. His pink haired kunoichi folded her arms and stared Sasuke down with her emerald green eyes.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said.

"Listen. If Sosei stays here, I want him to be close to our family. If you take Takuma and Kichiro out, take him too. Treat him like he's ours and not Karin's. Until I see progress on that front...no cherry blossom for you," Sakura said.

Sasuke's mouth almost dropped off it's hinges and he felt his entire body go limp. The longest he and Sakura had ever gone without sex since they had been married was a week and a half and that was because of a mission Sasuke had taken. When he returned, the two of them almost destroyed kitchen and created Kichiro in the process. He didn't know how long it would take to truly integrate Sosei into the family but Sasuke foresaw months.

He didn't know how he or Sakura would make it.

Nevertheless, Sasuke didn't have a choice in the matter. Fighting against Sakura's wishes would only make things far worse than they were already. Silently, Sasuke sighed and nodded in agreement. When Sasuke had complied with her wishes, Sakura turned and walked away. Sasuke watched as her hips swayed as she walk, his erection growing as she laid down in bed, exposing her sweet cherry blossom as she did. Her emerald eyes stared teasingly into his black ones and then traced down to his pants. Sasuke almost smirked at her expression. This agreement they had wouldn't last long.

Sasuke woke the next morning, his mind focused on his task for the day. His genin team- which still sounded weird to think about - was gathering together for the first time. His son, the Hokage's daughter and the loser child of a civilian were all going to be in one place and he'd have to get to know them and their aspirations. Hearing Takuma's should be interesting, providing he was actually honest and didn't give the answer that he thought Sasuke would want to hear.

Sasuke rose from the bed, showered, freshened up and dressed in his jonin garb. Sasuke grabbed his sword that laid at his bedside and hooked it to his waist. He'd need it if he was going to go through with the test at the end of the introductions. Since Naruto had become Hokage, the bell test had become a popular way of assessing students on both their individual shinobi skills and their ability to function as a team. Sasuke would do the test but he planned on making it much harder for his potential students. After he had dealt with his genin team, he would have to go pick up Sosei and bring him home.

Sakura was already up and brushing her teeth when Sasuke was ready to leave. Sasuke came behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and softly breathed on her neck. He felt her shiver under his grasp and temporarily weaken. If they had been in battle, Sasuke would've capitalized on the opportunity and attacked. Instead, Sasuke relented. He'd make it as torturous for her as it was for him.

"I'll see you later," Sasuke whispered, kissing Sakura on her forehead. Sakura turned and smiled at him.

"Ok. Don't go too hard on your new team," Sakura said. Sasuke smiled lightly.

"No promises," Sasuke said. As he left his room and walked down the hallway, he peered into Takuma and Kichiro's room. Takuma was already gone and Kichiro was just barely blinking himself awake. Sasuke realized that for once, he was actually running late. He'd still get to the Academy in a few seconds. Flickering through the city, Sasuke arrived at the entrance of the Academy, a gust of wind heralding his arrival. As he looked up, Sasuke saw a tall male jonin with spiky brown hair exiting the Academy with three students in tow. When the man saw him, he smiled and waved.

"Sasuke!" the man said. Sasuke dipped his head.

"Konohamaru," he said. The Sarutobi clansman walked towards Sasuke and his genin team followed close behind him. Sasuke recognized one of them as the Hyūga clan member, Hajime. The boy looked Sasuke up and down with his pale eyes, almost examining him. Sasuke looked back briefly before casting his eyes onto Konohamaru.

"Surprised Naruto appointed you as a genin squad leader. This your first one?" the man asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah. We'll see how this goes," Sasuke said. Konohamaru laughed.

"It'll be fine. Just go easy on them. They might not be a prodigious lot like you, Naruto and Sakura were," the man said, turning to walk away. "See you later, Sasuke!" The Uchiha watched as the young jonin and his team went out of sight and then sighed softly as he stared up at the Academy entrance.

_Here we go._

Sasuke found his way to the classroom that held the graduating class. As he entered, he looked up to the higher rows. Takuma, Honami and Shōgo all sat together, talking amongst themselves. Sasuke heard Shōgo ask Takuma and Honami what it was like to have famous parents and he saw Takuma shrug and Honami laugh. Sasuke cleared his throat and stood in the doorway. All of the genin snapped their heads towards him. Shōgo stared, awestruck, Honami smiled widely and Takuma's eyes widened.

"Awesome," Honami grinned.

"Whoa..." Shōgo breathed.

"Father?" Takuma said in astonishment.

"Sensei," Sasuke corrected him. "If you lot are ready to go, let's head out. We're going to the roof." The genin leapt from their seats and followed Sasuke as they went up the stairwell to the top floor of the Academy building. Sasuke opened the door the roof and held the door open as his students went through. The three genin gazed out over the rooftop and took in the view of the village, smiling. After they had, the three of them sat on a few old chairs that had been left on the roof. Sasuke sat in front of them and quickly observed them before he proceeded.

Honami sat straight, tall and proud, her striking red hair falling on her shoulders. Shōgo tried desperately not to stare too long at Sasuke, instead looking around and pretending to be interested in other things. Takuma sat as straight as Honami, fiddling with his thumbs as he waited for his father and now sensei to speak. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to remember how Kakashi had greeted him and his team all those years ago.

"Alright...how about you all introduce yourselves to me," Sasuke said coolly. "Tell me your name, things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future and why you want to be a shinobi." The words came out easily and Sasuke let out a sigh of relief as Honami raised her hand. He dipped his head towards her and the young girl began.

"Hello everyone! My name is Honami Uzumaki, daughter of Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyūga. I like cinnamon rolls, sparring and going out with my father. I don't exactly hate much. My dreams for the future and my reasons for wanting to be a shinobi go hand in hand. I want to be the very best at everything I do and be an amazing kunoichi like my mother and grandmother," Honami said, smiling. Sasuke felt himself smirk. He had half expected to hear a 'I want to be Hokage' line from her. Sasuke looked over to Takuma and his son dipped his head.

"My name is Takuma Uchiha, son of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. I like training with my little brother and being with my family. I dream of helping continue the Uchiha clan name and rebuilding it. I want to be a shinobi so that I can become as strong and feared as my Uchiha ancestors before me," Takuma said. Sasuke wanted to smile proudly at his son's proclamation but he knew that the boy didn't know how grandiose his dream was. Sasuke briefly pictured an older Takuma in his head, standing above Konoha, the red glow of the Sharingan in his eyes. The thought brought fear and excitement to Sasuke.

When his head had cleared, Sasuke's eyes then shifted to Shōgo, who flinched under the Uchiha's gaze.

"Oh..uh, my name is Shōgo Kazuma. I like music and reading. I hate being underestimated because I'm not a member of a famous clan." he turned his head towards his teammates and smiled a little. "No offense. One of my dreams is to become an elite warrior protecting the Fire Daimyō as a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. I want to become a shinobi because I want to be able to protect my family," Shōgo said. Sasuke nodded.

A loser with a dream. Just like Naruto had been.

"What about you, sensei?" Honami asked. Shōgo nodded.

"Yeah! Tell us about you. I wanna hear it all!" Shōgo said excitedly.

 _No, you don't._ Sasuke thought. Takuma sat in silence, watching his father. Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Right now, the only thing you need to know about me is that I have high expectations for all of you. I can guarantee you that no favoritism will be showed to any student. If you work hard and don't slack off, you might just make it as shinobi. Otherwise, don't waste my time or yours," the Uchiha said. Honami nodded while Shōgo looked pitifully crestfallen. Takuma sat still and quiet. Sasuke had given the same talk to him and Kichiro when they started training.

After the brief silence, Sasuke spoke again. "Now...for your first mission," he said. His young students' eyes widened as stared at him.

"M-mission?" Shōgo asked. Sasuke stood to his feet, forming a single hand seal. Takuma stepped forward and touched Sasuke's flak jacket, turning to his teammates after he had made contact.

"Come on. If you touch him during the Body Flicker, you'll go with him," he told them. Quickly, Honami and Shōgo hopped to their feet and rushed to Sasuke's side, grabbing onto him. With the increased number of bodies, Sasuke released more chakra and instantly the four sped through the air. Sasuke stopped above a clearing. As his students recovered from the trip, Sasuke looked around and smirked.

This was the exact same area Kakashi had tested Team 7. Sasuke pulled the two bells from his pocket and let them jingle in his hands. When his students had recovered from the Body Flicker trip, Sasuke cleared his throat. He had been assembling what kind of situation to put his students in all night. He hoped he had created a good one.

"As shinobi, some of your missions may involve you having to retrieve classified information from an enemy, often in the form of scrolls." Sasuke raised his hand up, letting the bells collide and jingle. "These two bells are two scrolls that must be retrieved from me. You have ten minutes to get them from me. If you can't retrieve them in the allotted time, I will then drop the bells in random places in the forest and you will have until noon to get them and bring them to this clearing. Just be warned...I will be watching you." Sasuke said, folding his arms. "Is the mission clear?" he asked.

"Yes sir!" his students replied. Sasuke smirked. Only Takuma had any idea what kind of hell the genin were in for. With that, the Uchiha dipped his head.

"Good. The time starts...now."


	5. Survival

Sasuke stood alone in the clearing, a warm breeze flowing through his hair. After he had announced the beginning of the bell test, his three students had scattered into the woods. At least the Academy had taught them something. They hid fairly well, although Sasuke knew for sure where every one of them were. He hoped that they wouldn't keep him waiting too long. He was keeping time in his head and the clock was ticking on their ten minutes.

Finally, someone stepped forward. Sasuke's eyes looked in front of him and he was surprised to see Takuma standing a few meters away. The boy let out a breath and raced forward, angling himself to Sasuke's right. Sasuke tracked him and watched the shurriken fly from his hand. As the ninja stars approached him, Sasuke caught them with one finger. Takuma then rushed forward and reached into his pocket, drawing several kunai and tossing them at Sasuke. The raven-haired jonin stepped out of the way and narrowed his eyes. Why was Takuma tossing weapons at him when he knew he'd dodge...

" _Hakkeshō Kaiten_!" a voice yelled from behind Sasuke. The kunai that Sasuke dodged reflecting a blue sphere of rotating chakra and flew back at Sasuke at a speed far greater than before. Almost too fast for Sasuke to simply side step. The older Uchiha flipped away, avoiding the expanding chakra sphere. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the red-haired daughter of Naruto as her rotation ended. For Honami to utilize this advanced Hyūga clan technique was extremely impressive especially for a fresh Academy student. Sasuke wondered if Hinata had taken the time to teach her daughter or if Honami had sought the assistance of someone within her mother's clan...

As Sasuke reflected on where Honami could possibly have learned such a high-level technique, his eyes caught sight of a shadow above him. He heard Shōgo's yell before he actually turned and saw the boy. The brightly colored boy was closing in on Sasuke with surprising speed considering his poor taijutsu scores. Or maybe it was just Sasuke's momentum pushing him towards the kid. Sasuke smirked. That must have been the plan all along. Get the weakest member the bell first or, as Sasuke would've done, use him as a test of the opponent's strength.

Takuma had set up this plan.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks and caught Shōgo's fist as he came down and twirled him in mid-air. The boy's face turned to absolute fear when Sasuke reared back his fist and punched him straight into his sternum, sending him flying. Shōgo's flying body and his subsequent crash into the dirt told Sasuke that he hadn't pulled back on his punch as much as he thought he had. Sasuke was worried briefly that he had accidentally killed him.

"Shōgo!" Honami yelled as she raced toward her teammate, passing to Sasuke's left. Sasuke frowned and darted towards the girl, appearing in front of her. His cold black gaze caused Honami to freeze in her tracks.

"Stay focused on your enemy," Sasuke said. Surprisingly, Honami then smirked.

"Follow your own advice, sensei," she said as she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before the smoke could dissipate, Takuma had emerged, a kunai drawn in his hand as he leapt towards Sasuke. The older Uchiha's head snapped back, narrowly avoiding the edge of Takuma's blade. Sasuke backed away as Takuma swung his kunai at his father's chest. Sasuke watched as his son threw the blade from his right and drew a second knife from his pocket, repeating the motion and then pressed forward.

His eyes focused on Takuma, Sasuke realized quickly that he had misplaced Honami and Shōgo amidst the smoke. He didn't have time to turn and see if the two of them were already behind him. Not if he wanted to give Takuma a swift lesson to discourage him from rushing blindly towards his enemy. Suddenly, however, the young Uchiha performed a hand seal and grit his teeth.

"Now!" he yelled. The two kunai that had flown past Sasuke's head disappeared into a puff of smoke. Sasuke's eyes widened with surprise as the knives transformed into Honami and Shōgo. The bodies that he thought were theirs evaporated as well, replaced by the clanging of the kunai falling to the ground. It was a fairly simple yet brilliant substitution.

He and Naruto had done virtually the same thing against Zabuza all those years ago but Sasuke hadn't thought that any of these fresh Academy students would be able to coordinate an attack strategy so advanced. Was this another one of Takuma's plans? Before Sasuke could beam with pride, he realized that the three potential genin were closing in on him. Takuma had another two kunai drawn, Honami's Byakugan was armed, and Shōgo leapt forward with his best taijutsu.

Sasuke could honestly say that he was impressed. Twice, the three young shinobi had displayed tactical ingenuity in orchestrating their attacks. If he had been a weaker opponent, the three genin would've definitely overwhelmed him or at least struck him with a decisive blow. But, he was Sasuke Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan, protector of Konoha and savior of the world. He wouldn't let his students win so easily. Besides, there was still one more test of their teamwork that needed to be done.

As his students approached, Sasuke turned to Honami first, grabbing both of her wrists. Takuma approached from behind and Sasuke lifted his lower body into the air, rotating his hips and spreading his legs to kick both Takuma and the bright-colored Shōgo away. He then twirled and tossed Honami towards Takuma. Before the daughter of the Hokage collided with the young Uchiha, Sasuke saw something leave the boy's hand. The kunai wasn't close enough to deal a blow on Sasuke. His legs were spread and his hips down. Where the hell was he...

The bells.

Takuma's kunai sliced through the cord holding one of the bells to Sasuke's belt and the small metal ball jingled as it dropped to the ground. That Takuma...the boy had such perceptive eyes, even without a Sharingan. To accurately throw a kunai even while being tossed away from the target was amazing. However, no one was down below to retrieve the bell. No one except Shōgo. The boy moved quickly as Sasuke descended, but he wasn't fast enough. As the bell fell, Sasuke lurched downward, snatching it right before Shōgo could grab it. The bright boy rolled in the dust and then jumped back to his feet.

"Damn it," the boy huffed as he placed his hands on his knees. Sasuke looked from Shōgo to Honami and Takuma. All three genin looked to be tired, especially Takuma. After leading the last two attacks and gaining nothing from it, his body must've been trying desperately to regain energy. However, he wouldn't give up. Although he seemed to share a lot of similarities to his late uncle Itachi, there was one thing that Sasuke knew that Takuma had inherited from him. Absolute stubbornness and a refusal to quit. Neither would Honami. From Shōgo's expression, neither would he.

"Your time is running up," Sasuke said coolly, his eyes looking at his potential team. "The enemy has evaded and overpowered you multiple times and is on the verge of escaping. No longer is the mission about simply retrieving the scroll. If this enemy escapes, the information within the scroll could be used to threaten your friends and families. Will you let them die because you were to weak to complete your assignment?" Sasuke asked.

Honami rose to her feet, the veins around her eyes indicating that her Byakugan was still activated. "No, sensei!" she said, dropping into a Gentle Fist stance. Shōgo balled his fists up and gulped.

"Neither will I," he said. The boy's eyes looked over to Takuma and Sasuke followed his gaze.

"Takuma...what is your answer?" Sasuke asked. The young Uchiha stood up, his face shrouded by his bangs. For some reason, Sasuke felt a cool chakra that shifted to something warm. When Takuma finally looked up, his eyes locking onto Sasuke's, the older Uchiha knew why.

"I won't let anyone hurt my family. Not my father, my mother, my little brother or my little sister. I'll die before I let someone hurt them," Takuma said, his eyes filled with a fiery determination Sasuke hadn't seen since the boy had first attempted to learn the Uchiha clan rite of passage.

I wonder if he'd feel the same about his new brother...Sasuke thought. He wondered what Sosei was doing now. If he had recovered from having his nerve point tapped earlier or if he was still at Naruto's mansion...

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Takuma yelled as a giant fire ball burst from his mouth and scorched the earth on its approach to Sasuke, snapping the older Uchiha back to the battlefield. Shōgo leapt out of the way and Sasuke dodged to the left. Honami appeared and began to attempt strike Sasuke with her Gentle Fist techniques. Sasuke was tempted to activate his Sharingan, but he refused to let three Academy students push him that far. He had enough of an advantage as it was.

The time was nearly up.

Shōgo threw a barrage of shurriken at Sasuke as Honami leapt backwards. Sasuke avoided them and was rushed from behind by Takuma, who span his kunai on his finger before lunging forward. The three students leapt in and out as they attacked Sasuke from all sides, using whatever they could to try and distract him long enough to take the bells. The repeated exchanges lasted longer than Sasuke had anticipated or really initially wanted. But he could almost say he was having fun.

Soon, however, the time for fun was finished. The sun was climbing into the sky and that meant that noon was approaching. As the three potentials raced forward to attack Sasuke again, the Uchiha jonin disappeared and reappeared across the field from them, raising his hand to notify his team that the time to attack was over. Befitting of future shinobi, the kids stayed in combat stances, despite Sasuke's signal. They were better than he thought...

"Your ten minutes is up. Now, you have until noon to find the two bells. Good luck," Sasuke said, as he disappeared once again. Sasuke didn't travel far. His Body Flicker carried him into the trees. He wanted to see how the team reacted after a failed mission. If someone would take the blame, if there would be quarrels amongst the children and if they would crack underneath the pressure.

"Ah, shit...we almost had him," Shōgo sighed loudly as he fell to the ground. Honami nodded and Takuma looked down at Shōgo coolly.

"We never had him," the young Uchiha said. "Fa-Sensei didn't even bother to activate his Sharingan. At best, we surprised him. I think he severely underestimated our abilities and our capability to function as a team." Takuma said. Honami nodded.

"I don't think we would've done nearly as good if it hadn't be for you, Shōgo," the red-headed girl said with a smile. Sasuke's eyes widened. Shōgo had created the plans? The dead last in his class had managed to construct attack strategies with teammates he had barely spent any time with that not only surprised Sasuke with their effectiveness but also kept him on his toes. Sasuke had thought that Takuma constructed the plans. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and listened intently.

The orange-haired boy rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Thanks. I guess I was useful, huh?" he said. Takuma smiled lightly and nodded.

"Very. But, we can talk about that later," he said. He looked up into the sky and made a bridge above his eyes with his hand. "It's going to be noon, soon." Takuma said. Honami nodded.

"So, what's the plan this time?" she said. "There are two bells. We'll have to split up to retrieve them both before our time is up." Takuma nodded and Shōgo's gaze went from Takuma to Honami.

"The question is who goes with who..." Shōgo said. Before anybody could answer, Shōgo shook his head. "You two go together."

"Shōgo..." Honami said. The colorful boy raised his hand.

"It's clear I'm the weak link of the team. I don't have any real shinobi skill. I won't be able to help the team moving forward," he said.

"That's a lie. Your skill allowed us to take sensei by surprise. The only reason we didn't acquire the bells is because he is who he is." Takuma said, kneeling down in the middle of the group. "Here's what we'll do. Honami, you go with Shōgo. Your Byakugan will be able to cover all bases while Shōgo looks for the bells. If sensei is playing the role of the enemy, he'll go for the weakest first."

Honami looked at Takuma and Sasuke's eyes picked up traces of worry in her face.

"But, that'll mean that you're alone," she said. Takuma smiled at her, a wider one than he had given to Shōgo.

"I fight against my father almost every day. I know how he'll approach me and what tricks he might use against me. I'll be fine," he said. Sasuke smirked. Takuma had confidence befitting the bravado of a prepubescent boy attempting to impress a girl for the first time. At least he could somewhat back up his bluff. Or at least the other two kids thought so.

"Alright, then. We don't have a lot of time. Let's go," Takuma said. Quickly, the group of children disappeared into the forest. Sasuke sat still and silent in the trees, his mind still stuck on the revelation of Shōgo's brilliance. In his head, he imagined a shinobi with Shikamaru's intelligence and Naruto's annoying determination. The potential the boy had was staggering...and Naruto had chosen Sasuke to cultivate it.

The bastard.

Sasuke chose to test Honami's Byakugan first, darting through the trees to where she and Shōgo were. In the canopy, Sasuke's hawk-like eyes caught everything. They were doing their best to conceal themselves as they searched below on the forest floor. The Byakugan gave Honami nearly 360 degrees of vision, besides a small spot above the first thoracic vertebrae. Sasuke could easily hit that small window, but torturing his future students on a survival test didn't seem like something a true sensei would do.

Instead, Sasuke would scorch the forest.

He had the bell hidden in the tallest tree closest to the edges.

" _Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu_!" Sasuke said, as a giant flame dragon's head burst from his mouth, ripping through the forest and burning the trees. Honami turned quickly and grabbed Shōgo.

"We have to move!" she yelled as she and the bright-colored boy raced away from the spreading fire. Sasuke watched as the genin darted away through the underbrush, heading towards the clearing. Shōgo recognized this quickly.

"No, stop! It's a trap! He's trying to draw us away from the bell and out into the clearing so that we'll be easier to pick off. We have to stay in the forest!" Shōgo said. Honami turned to him.

"It's a trap either way we go. That fire jutsu is going to rip through the vegetation. If we stay here..." Honami said.

You'll be trapped. Sasuke thought. The Uchiha quickly weaved together hand seals and let the chakra build up in his chest. "Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!" Another large flame dragon's head descended on the horrified faces of Sasuke's potential team. Honami pushed Shōgo behind her and got into a Gentle Fist stance.

"Stay back!" she yelled as she quickly span into a Kaiten, unleashing a chakra sphere that blew the fire of Sasuke's jutsu into the trees and away from her and Shōgo. She had successfully deflected the attack but she made a fatal mistake. She left her teammate open. Before Honami had finished her spin, Sasuke flickered behind the two students, pulling a metal cord out of his pouch and wrapping it around both of them. Honami and Shōgo crashed to the ground before they could blink. Shōgo struggled briefly before he looked up and saw Sasuke. The Uchiha loomed over the Academy students.

Sasuke looked down at the red-headed girl whose face twisted into a mix of the angry determination of her father and the sad dejection of her mother. Sasuke knew he couldn't be as harsh as he would be to his own children during training sessions in his corrections. Go easy on them. Konohamaru had said. Sasuke sighed. He would try.

"Honami, you did the right thing attempting to defend your teammate. However, you maintained your kaiten for too long and didn't take into account your opponent's superior speed. Before you haphazardly perform powerful and taxing jutsu, make sure you've gathered enough information about the enemy," Sasuke said. Honami dipped her head.

"Yes, Sasuke-sensei." she said. Sasuke turned to Shōgo and was prepared to speak to him before he felt the presence of another chakra blazing towards him. Fire balls rained from the canopy towards Sasuke, Honami and Shōgo. Quickly, Sasuke backed away into the clearing as the underbrush was engulfed in flame, seemingly catching Honami and Shōgo in it as well. The fire blocked Sasuke's view and he narrowed his eyes.

 _Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu_...the Phoenix Flower technique that unleashed a barrage of miniature fireballs at the opponent. It was the second jutsu that Sasuke had taught to Takuma. The aforementioned Uchiha boy leapt through the dissipating flames with his two squad mates. Both Shōgo and Honami were panting and sweating. Takuma was the only one who hadn't exhausted himself. Although it didn't benefit him or his team at this point. The time was up.

The sun bore down on the four figures in the field, casting its golden gaze upon them. The potential genin stood huddled in front of Sasuke, their faces fraught with anxiety as the Uchiha's emotionless onyx eyes looked over them. Inside his head, Sasuke tried to measure his expectations with reality.

In all truth, he had expected this group of genin to be as pitifully put together as he, Naruto and Sakura had initially been. He thought Takuma and Shōgo would be fighting mainly against each other, despite his son's passive and kind personality. He thought that Honami would simply stand back in awe of Takuma instead of actively taking part in the test. Instead, he got the exact opposite. Though they had only been officially for half an hour maximum, the three displayed a higher level of teamwork and cooperation than Sasuke had seen in some older, highly trained shinobi. It took a lot to impress Sasuke Uchiha...but today was one of the few occasions that he could actually admit to being just that.

The Uchiha took the last bell that he didn't place in a hiding spot off of his belt and held it in his hand. If any of the students had retrieved the second bell from the top of the tree, they would've revealed it by now.

"The three of you failed to retrieve the 'scroll' and let the enemy escape with the classified information. Therefore, you failed the mission." Sasuke said. As the three kids began to look crestfallen, Sasuke continued. "However...due to your teamwork, none of your comrades were killed. Leaked information about the village is one thing, but losing lives in the process is considered a failure in itself."

"So that means...?" Shōgo asked.

"Did we make it, Sasuke sensei?" Honami inquired. Takuma sat still as if he was waiting to hear his father say the words. Sasuke smirked.

"You did. Your level of teamwork and camaraderie not only surprised me, but it impressed me. Honami," Sasuke said, looking to the redhead. "You did well acting defensively on the behalf of your team." Sasuke looked to his son. "Takuma, you lead the attack without fear and you didn't falter in the face of a much stronger opponent. And Shōgo..." Sasuke said. The orange haired boy looked up and gulped.

"Yes, sensei?" he said.

"As the strategist for your team, you did extremely well. With enough training, you might make it as a shinobi." Sasuke said. Shōgo's face looked as if he was about to burst into tears at Sasuke's words. The Uchiha almost wanted to step back as the boy sniffled and wiped his eyes.

"I won't fail you, sensei!" Shōgo said, crying.

"Good. I'll see to it that none of you will. Tomorrow, you'll have a day off to recover from today's survival training. After that, we're taking missions so be prepared," Sasuke said, waving his hand. "Dismissed."

The new Team Sasuke stayed together for a while, talking each other about the survival training. Finally, Shōgo left and Honami and Takuma were left in the clearing. Sasuke watched as his son maneuvered nervously around Honami while the girl spoke excitedly about something. Finally, after the two shared words back and forth, the two of them parted ways with a hug. Takuma walked back over towards Sasuke, blushing and looking embarrassed.

Sasuke smirked and rubbed his son's shoulder as the two of them started to walk back towards home.

"You did very well today," Sasuke said as soon as the two of them were alone on the dirt path to their house. Takuma smiled modestly, although the pride of hearing Sasuke's compliment was evident on his face.

"Thank you, Father," he said before pausing and looking back up at Sasuke. The older Uchiha nodded.

"I'm proud of the fact that you worked so well with the others as a team. I never was one to be a team player," Sasuke said, smirking as he reminisced on the countless times he had taken charge and done things on his own. Takuma stared up with his inquisitive emerald eyes.

"Really?" the boy asked. Sasuke nodded again. He often forgot that his children saw him as the paragon of a shinobi when really he was everything but.

"Yes. I was prideful, even arrogant about my strength. I never really thought I needed anyone in my life to help me but I was wrong. One powerful shinobi capable of fighting an army is great," Sasuke said before looking down at his son. "But a team of powerful shinobi that can work well together is something to be feared. Remember that." Sasuke placed his hand on Takuma's head. "Make yourself strong. Make your brother and your sister strong. With that power, you'll rejuvenate our clan." Sasuke said.

"Yes, Father," Takuma replied, his green eyes shimmering with determination. Sasuke looked down at his eldest son...no, not his eldest. But his legitimate heir. He had plead the future of the Uchiha in this boy's hands yet the boy knew nothing about his clan, it's forefathers or even his father's real history. With Sosei coming, these facts were virtually unavoidable now.

Sasuke's feet led him to a crossroads where the path split to his estate and towards the village and the Hokage mansion. Takuma stood beside him and Sasuke could feel his son looking up at him.

"Father, aren't we still going home?" Takuma asked. Sasuke looked towards the path of his house and then towards the mansion. He wondered if Sosei and Naruto were still there with Sasuke's eldest demanding to know where his father had gone. Had he ran away to search the village for him? He didn't have a clue. Either way...Takuma was going to meet his older brother eventually. Sasuke had to tell him now.

"Yes..." Sasuke said. The two Uchiha stood at the crossroads, paused in the moment before Sasuke took a silent breath and spoke to his son. "Takuma, I have something to tell you...about me." he said. The boy looked up at him, curious.

"Okay," he replied. Sasuke closed his eyes and thought on what exactly he would say. "I told you about my tenure with Team 7 up until the end of the Chunin Exams...but there's more that followed that. After that, your uncle Itachi arrived to Konoha to not only attempt to capture the Kyuubi inside of Naruto for the organization he worked for, but to check on me. At the time, I still desired to kill him and when I failed, I grew greatly dissatisfied with my own power. So I left the village. Although Naruto attempted to bring me back, I beat him and escaped. Two years later, I eventually joined the same organization that Itachi was apart of after I had..." Sasuke said, stopping.

Takuma blinked. "What? What did you do?" Sasuke could only stare. He saw so much of Itachi in his son's visage, bar the green eyes, the two were practically identical. That very resemblance almost moved Sasuke to tears but he resisted and continued to speak.

"I killed him," he said. Sasuke could hear the flapping of birds as they took off in the canopy. Takuma looked up at Sasuke and the older Uchiha couldn't tell if his son was appalled or keenly interested.

"You...killed your own brother?" Takuma asked. "But why? Why you do something like that?" Sasuke noticed that his son had started to back away. Sasuke didn't reach out to him. He just continued to talk and hoped Takuma would hear him out.

"Years ago, the Uchiha clan had been planning to coup against Konoha. To prevent this, Itachi was given the mission to kill every member of the clan. He accepted only under the condition that I be allowed to survive. He did this so that eventually I would grow up and avenge our fallen clansmen and be seen as a hero," Sasuke said. Takuma seemed to calm down and relaxed. His face looked like he was processing the information Sasuke had just given him.

"Is that when you became the hero of Konoha...?" Takuma asked. Sasuke desperately wanted that to be the truth. For that to be the end of the horrors to come. But it was not.

"No...it took another year of hardships and pitfalls for me to get to that point. But, I didn't tell you this for nothing. I'm telling you this because you'll be meeting someone from my past." Sasuke said. Takuma looked up and blinked.

"Who?" he asked.

"Me," a voice said behind Sasuke and Takuma. Sasuke's eyes widened and he whirled around to see none other than Sosei. The boy stood at the crossroads, his arms folded and his shadow stretching in front of Takuma and Sasuke. Takuma looked up to Sasuke and then to Sosei. Briefly, the two boys stared at each other. All Sasuke could do was stand in the middle of his two sons.

"W-who...are you?" Takuma asked. He then looked up at Sasuke. "Father, who is this?"

"Can't you see...?" Sosei responded instead. "Can't you feel it, kid?" Sosei closed his eyes and reopened them. His scarlet Sharingan was bright in his eyes, even in the clear sunlight of the noonday sky. With balled fists and the arrogance of the Uchiha, the boy angrily declared, "I'm the eldest son of Sasuke Uchiha and Karin and the true heir of the Uchiha Clan. Sosei Uchiha!"


	6. Monsters In The House

Sasuke stared at the boy who wished to be his heir. The arrogance. The sheer audacity. Had Sasuke been this full of himself at this age?

Probably.

Sosei stood flat-footed in front of Sasuke and Takuma, his nostrils flared, his lips curled in a smirk and his fists balled. Meanwhile, Takuma was silent. His face was expressionless like his uncle Itachi's had always seemed to be yet the flame in his green eyes betrayed his inward emotions. Sasuke couldn't properly gauge the boy's emotions, though. Was he angry or insulted by what Sosei had presented?

"The heir is determined by the Clan Head. Only Father can choose who he wishes to succeed him," Takuma said, before pausing and staring directly through Sosei. "If you think that you'd make a better choice, prove it." He said. Sosei was taken aback and Sasuke hid the pleasure on his face well. Before Sosei could respond to the challenge, however, Sasuke stepped in and cast his gaze on Sosei.

"The heir must also be a formally recognized member of the Uchiha clan, which you are not," the elder Uchiha said, bluntly. Sosei's face crinkled and Sasuke continued. "In order for that to occur, you must be able to perform the rite of passage jutsu, the Grand Fireball." Sosei's Sharingan eyes faded as Sasuke's statement settled in. For once, the boy's face went calm.

"Teach it to me," he said, in a demanding tone. Sasuke frowned and Takuma stiffened up at his side. If there was one thing Sasuke didn't tolerate in his home, it was disrespect especially not from his own children. But Sasuke paused before he did anything and thought for a moment. Sosei had just watched his mother get killed. He was alone and Sasuke was the only family that he had. Sasuke knew firsthand how cold that could make a person. Sosei, in his own disrespectful way, was demanding for Sasuke to love and accept him. At least, Sasuke hoped that he wasn't being too uncharacteristically lenient.

"Fine," the elder Uchiha said as he folded his arms. "I'll teach you this technique. But…" Sasuke stared into Sosei's eyes, entrancing the boy. "From now until the day you die, you will respect me as your father. Any transgression and I will punish you. Are we clear?" Sasuke asked. Silently and cautiously, Sosei nodded.

After Sasuke had had the brothers exchange names, Sosei didn't say another word until Sasuke had led him and Takuma to the Spot. Sosei looked around the giant, flat expanse as if he was quickly analyzing every stretch of the forest clearing. After a few seconds, he turned to Sasuke and Takuma. Sasuke walked forward and stepped in front of Sosei.

"The Grand Fireball jutsu requires six hand seals in quick succession. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and finally, Tiger," Sasuke said. "After that, you muster the chakra into your lungs before you expel it from your mouth. I'll demonstrate once." Sasuke weaved the signs in a blur then literally breathed a fireball out of his mouth.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Sasuke said. The flames died away instantly. Sasuke turned to Sosei who had seemed to be watching him intently.

In silence, he stepped forward and stayed still. Sasuke glanced at Takuma and saw that his son looked slightly nervous. And it seemed he had a right to be. Sosei weaved the signs nearly as quickly as Sasuke had and in one smooth motion, he breathed out the fireball.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ ," Sosei repeated. Takuma's eyes widened and Sasuke raised his head in interest. If Sasuke needed anymore proof, he had it right before his face. Sosei was his son.

Sosei turned and dipped his head respectfully towards Sasuke. When he caught eyes with Takuma, he smirked. Sasuke's heir had a strange look on his face. Panic. As soon as that expression appeared on the boy's face, every resemblance to Itachi he had faded. Sasuke had never seen his older brother look panicked during his life. To see it on a face that looked so familiar was unsettling and surprising. Almost as surprising as Takuma's next words.

"Can we spar?" he asked, looking up at Sasuke. "Sosei and I?" Sasuke folded his arms.

"You just finished your survival test half an hour ago. Are you sure that you want to spar against Sosei?" Sasuke asked. Without hesitation, Takuma nodded. His green eyes sent out a message to Sasuke. I need to see. Sosei and Takuma faced each other in the center of the clearing. Sasuke whistled. The two brothers began.

Takuma didn't stand a chance. Before he could ready himself, Sosei had begun to press his attack. Takuma struggled to keep up, not from fatigue, but from the sheer speed and ferocity of Sosei's assault. Without a Sharingan to predict Sosei's movements, Takuma was lost and barely managing to block his older brother's punches. Suddenly, Sosei switched up and swept Takuma's legs from under him. Takuma attempted to roll backwards only for Sosei to grab the collar of his shirt and lift him up.

Takuma's body slammed into the dirt and when he rolled over to try and escape, Sosei's fist fired down on him, stopping centimeters from the bridge of his nose. To his credit, Takuma didn't flinch. He stared at Sosei's fist with defiance. Sosei casually let go of Takuma's collar and rose to his feet. When he was up, Sosei offered Takuma a hand. The green eyed Uchiha refused and stood up on his own. Takuma looked at Sasuke and the elder Uchiha could see the disappointment and embarrassment in his face. Sasuke understood, but he couldn't help but be impressed.

Sosei was astounding. His impudence and arrogance aside, the boy was a marvel. Sasuke was surprised he learned and performed the Grand Fireball jutsu the first time by simply watching. Sosei had the Sharingan…but did he have it activated while he watched? With a one tomoe Sharingan, Sosei could copy the hand movements but not the actual jutsu. Sasuke didn't see or feel like Sosei had been watching him that way.

Regardless, Sosei's taijutsu skills were undeniably amazing. Fresh out of the Academy, Sasuke had estimated that Takuma was at least at chunin level in taijutsu from all of the training regiments he had gone through since he was able to walk, run and understand Sasuke's commands. Yet, Sosei defeated him within seconds. Perhaps if Takuma would've rested, he would've been sharper but Sasuke couldn't argue Sosei's speed and strength. He was just about as strong as Sasuke had been after he had left Konoha, perhaps even stronger.

Sosei smirked at Takuma as the latter dusted his shoulder off. "Want to go again, Lord Takuma?" Sosei jeered.

Takuma ignored him and walked away, sitting under the shade of a tree. Whenever he was stressed or failed at something, Takuma distanced himself. When he had failed to produce the Grand Fireball on his first attempt, Takuma went away and sat in reflection. In an hour, he returned and could perform without a problem. Sasuke watched as Takuma's eyes went to the ground and then off into the distance.

"I didn't beat him too badly, did I?" Sosei asked. Sasuke looked over at Takuma.

"No, not necessarily. He's just gathering inner motivation to fight you again." Sasuke glanced up into the sky. "It won't be today though. There are things we have to do. Your presence will have to be formally announced to the village and you'll have to registered into Konoha's system. And…" Sasuke said, trailing off. Sosei looked up at Sasuke and then away as if he had predicted what he would say.

"Mother's ceremony," he said.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied. Sosei was quiet for a little while longer before he turned to Sasuke.

"Will you avenge her?" he asked. Sasuke didn't blink.

"Not until I know why she was killed." Sosei scoffed.

"My mother told me you slaughtered so many in pursuit of the truth yet now you want to wait for information? For what?" Sosei said, his tone growing more indignant.

"Because I'm not a criminal living by my own creed anymore. That's something your mother failed to see. I reformed and committed to the rebuilding of my home," Sasuke said.

"Mother told me that you were a monster, feared across all the continent as the rogue avenger on a quest for blood. That was the man I thought I'd be calling my father," Sosei said. The elder Uchiha's face was exasperated. What all had Karin fed into this boy's mind about him? Sasuke closed his eyes.

"That's not who I am anymore," he said plainly. The raven-haired man walked under the trees where Takuma sat. The boy's green eyes looked up at Sasuke and then back to the fallen leaves in front of his feet.

"I'm sorry, Father," Takuma whispered. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be sorry." The Uchiha sat down next to his son and placed his hand on the boy's head. "In life, you'll have experiences that test you or humble you. There will always be obstacles in your life. What you must do is overcome them," Sasuke said, gently lifting Takuma's head so that he'd look at Sosei. The gray eyed Uchiha was practicing the Grand Fireball, forming the hand seals quicker and quicker every time while the fire ball grew larger and larger.

"He's good…" Takuma said softly. Sasuke nodded.

"Be better." Sasuke's green eyed son looked up at him and nodded. The fire was back in his eyes. Sasuke patted Takuma on his head and then rose to his feet. His onyx eyes looked to the sky. "Sosei, we're leaving." Sasuke said. The Uchiha's eldest breathed out another fireball, smoke exiting his mouth and nose as he turned. Despite firing off several Grand Fireballs in succession, Sosei didn't look to be tired at all.

"Coming," he said as he made his way over towards them. Sasuke led Takuma and Sosei out through the woods. After they emerged, they were greeted by a familiar face. The Hokage stood with his arms folded. From his expression, he had been waiting for a while and had something serious to discuss.

Takuma bowed slightly. "Lord Hokage," he said. Sosei cast him a confused glance and then looked at Sasuke. Sasuke dipped his head to Naruto.

"Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke," Naruto replied. "I came here as soon as Honami got home and still had to wait." His blue eyes then went to Sosei. "Ah, I see you found him, huh?" Naruto said, chuckling. "Slippery one." Sasuke looked down at Sosei and narrowed his eyes. Sosei shrugged.

"The Hokage had people guarding my room that escorted me everywhere I went. I wanted to come find you but they wouldn't let me so I snuck out," Sosei explained.

"Who'd you have guarding him, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Naruto rubbed his chin.

"Ah, Kiba and some other chunin you don't know. Even with Akamaru present, I was surprised that Sosei slipped past undetected. They didn't realize that he was gone until I asked to see him. Impressive," Naruto grinned. He then looked down at Takuma's dirty clothes and up to Sasuke. The Uchiha shook his head and Naruto nodded. Sasuke was grateful that through all their trials together, the two shinobi had developed an understanding of each other.

"Why did you want to see me?" Sosei asked. "Did you find out why my mother was killed?" Naruto shook his head.

"No, the team I sent out is still going towards the Land of Water as we speak. They should be back soon," he replied. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. How many clones had Naruto sent out?

"Then what is the news?" Sosei asked. Naruto sighed.

"The final ceremony will be held for your mother tomorrow morning," he said. Sosei's face became more somber and he looked away.

"Oh. Ok," he replied quietly. Naruto smiled lightly.

"Hey, don't worry. You won't have to go through this alone," Naruto said as he reached out to Sosei. Sasuke's eldest son pulled away, staring up at Naruto with sorrow and hate-filled eyes. Familiar eyes to Sasuke.

"Yes, I will." Sosei turned and walked away from Sasuke, Naruto and Takuma. Sasuke watched him go and felt the chill of déjà vu crawl down his spine. Sosei seemed to embody everything that had been wrong with Sasuke at thirteen. His arrogance, his frigid and cynical views on life and his disregard for those above him. Sasuke shook his head and sighed.

"Takuma, go pick Kichiro up from the Academy," Sasuke said. Takuma looked from his father to Naruto and then sped off to do what he had been told. With both of his sons gone, Sasuke turned to Naruto. Naruto's face was almost grim.

"Sosei…reminds me of you right before you left. I can see it in his eyes," Naruto said.

"I know," Sasuke nodded. "The only thing I can do now is try and change his course."

"Once he meets Sakura, Kichiro and Hikari and gets used to them, I'm sure he'll come around," Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke considered that for a moment. Kichiro's positivity and energy were infectious and Hikari's innocence often melted Sasuke's cool exterior. It could work. But Sasuke didn't share Naruto's absolute optimism.

"Perhaps," Sasuke finally said. "His relationship with Takuma has already started off on shaky ground." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What happened?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"Sosei's a genius," he said almost casually. "He got the Grand Fireball the first time he tried it and within about five times of firing it off, he could do the hand seals almost as fast as I could. He didn't even look tired. Before that, he took Takuma down within thirty seconds and with very little effort." Naruto nodded and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, that seems to confirm our suspicion that he wasn't just some kid that hadn't graduated from the Academy. Sounds like he might be jonin level," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded and looked Naruto in the eyes.

"But you're not going to assign him to anything, are you?" he asked. Naruto shook his head.

"No. I'll see where his loyalties lie first before I decide on where to place him. Besides, I'll need to think on what'd be best for him and the village given his situation," Naruto said.

"Speaking of which..." Sasuke started to walk and Naruto walked with him. "Who'd you actually send?" Naruto sighed.

"An ANBU squad under Shikamaru's suggestion. We kind of agreed that they'd be better at reconnaissance than I would. I'd rather go to Kiri and see what's going on myself but that's just how things are," Naruto said. Sasuke watched Naruto's stubborn and frustrated face. He wondered if Hinata had told him that she was pregnant. Most likely not. Otherwise, every other sentence Naruto would've spoken would've ended with dattebayo from his sheer excitement.

"Your daughter did well," Sasuke remarked offhandedly. Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, I heard that you praised her. Surprised you with her Gentle Fist, huh?" Sasuke gave a barely noticeable shrug.

"Not really. I expected the daughter of the former Hyūga heir to be skilled. But the Hakkeshō Kaiten…" Sasuke said. Naruto smirked.

"So you were surprised!" he said. Sasuke scowled, albeit playfully.

"No," he repeated, searching for another excuse. When he couldn't find one, Sasuke let it go, although he knew from Naruto's grin that he wouldn't. The blonde Hokage waved.

"I've gotta head back to the office. Damned paperwork. See ya!" he said, disappearing in a yellow flash as Sasuke nodded.

Sasuke sighed softy as his feet led him to the Academy. He missed seeing his family. All he wanted now was to have a nice, peaceful dinner at home and then to sit out by the lake with Sakura and make love to her under the moonlight. None of that would happen. Not until Sosei got acclimated to living with Sasuke. The Uchiha had no idea how long that process would take but he wished for it to be quick.

He and Sakura had spoiled each other sexually, especially before Takuma was born. After Hikari had arrived, they had established an unspoken routine. Now, Sasuke's body ached for Sakura. It almost made him feel repulsed. He thought he was far more disciplined than that.

Outside of the Academy, the children had just begun to funnel through the doors. Sasuke's eyes caught sight of Takuma as he waited for Kichiro to come through. Sasuke allowed his face to curve pleasantly as the days of old passed through his mind until a reminder of the present situation appeared.

"How many siblings do I have?" Sosei asked. Sasuke turned and saw the boy sitting in the old swing set in front of the Academy building. Sasuke nodded his head towards Takuma and Kichiro as they approached.

"Including those two, three. You have a younger sister named Hikari, as well. You'll meet her and my wife, Sakura, today when I take you home," Sasuke said. Sosei jolted and looked up at him, seemingly startled by the word "home" until it's new meaning sank in.

"Home…" the boy said distantly. Sasuke looked over his eldest son as he tried to make sense of him. Brazen, arrogant, disrespectful, powerful, intelligent, damaged…all words that described the boy. All words that had described Sasuke once, or as some shinobi thought, still summarized his personality. Sasuke was sure that the boy had been arrogant beyond measure before. Being able to rightfully claim the name "Uchiha" now meant he'd be even more full of himself. But Sasuke couldn't turn him away.

He had to love him.

"Daddy!" Kichiro shouted as he raced towards Sasuke, grinning from ear to ear. "I have a jutsu I want to show you!" he said before stopping and looking at Sosei. Sasuke's eldest looked at Kichiro and he smirked.

"Heh, he looks just like you," Sosei commented. Kichiro blinked at him and then looked up to Sasuke.

"Daddy, who is this? He looks…like you…" the young boy said, drifting off. Sasuke placed his hand on Kichiro's shoulder.

"This is your older brother, Sosei. I'll explain on our way home," Sasuke said. The Uchiha men rounded up and Sasuke led them back home, explaining to Kichiro in limited detail how Sosei came to the village.

The little boy's eyes widened with every turn of the story, casting his black eyes on Sosei when he heard that Karin had been killed. Sosei returned his gaze with less malice than he had shown to Takuma. Perhaps, he didn't recognize Kichiro as a threat. Sasuke mused on that idea.

When the Uchiha Estate was in sight, Sasuke heard Takuma breathe a soft sigh of relief. He turned and saw Sosei's eyes widened at the sight of the expansive property. His eyes said what his mouth wouldn't. Wow.

The pleasant sight of pink hair welcomed Sasuke. Sakura and Hikari waved when they saw Sasuke and then paused when Sosei's face appeared. Sakura's face changed. The realization must've just settled in for her, Sasuke noted. As they got to the front of the house, Sasuke softly kissed Sakura on the lips and looked in her eyes.

Are you alright? His eyes spoke.

Yes. Sakura blinked. Sasuke nodded and smiled softly as Hikari reached out to him.

"Papa! I missed you!" she said, squeezing Sasuke's neck tightly. The little girl then looked down at her two brothers, Takuma and Kichiro, grinning widely. When her eyes looked to Sosei, she paused. "Papa…?" she asked. Sasuke glanced at his daughter and Sakura's slightly worried face.

"This is Sosei," Sasuke said. "He's your older brother and he'll be living with us now." Hikari frowned and folded her arms. Sasuke gave his daughter a questioning eye. "Hikari, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Not _another_ brother! Why, Papa? Can we get a sister?" the pink-haired girl pouted. Kichiro laughed.

"Hey! We're not so bad. Right, Takuma?" he said, looking up at his older brother.

"We aren't," Takuma replied, casting a glance at Sosei as he answered. Sosei raised his head to look down on Takuma, his face full of indignation. Before things could escalate, Sakura pulled Sosei away.

"Let me show you where you'll be staying," she said, smiling at Sosei. A pleasant smile, but not entirely genuine. Sasuke could see that clearly. He wondered if Sosei could see it as well. Sasuke entered the house, with Hikari in his arms and Takuma and Kichiro on his heels. Hikari got down and ran in search of Sakura on stunted legs, leaving Sasuke with Kichiro and Takuma.

Kichiro didn't seem at all bothered by Sosei's presence in the home. In fact, he seemed almost welcoming. That was his nature. Sweet, excitable and kind. However, Takuma was uncharacteristically cold. Takuma had never been the most affectionate of people, yet his love for his family always shined through. His attitude towards Sosei seemed to have worsened from their sparring match at the Spot.

"Sosei will be accompanying us every time that we go to the Spot for training," Sasuke announced to his sons. Kichiro grinned and Takuma gawked at his little brother like his head and split down the middle.

"Cool! The three of us will definitely take you down, Daddy! Right, Takuma?" Kichiro cried, balling his fist and looking to his big brother. For a moment, Takuma's face was almost disgusted then it softened. He looked away and nodded.

"Yeah…" he responded. Sasuke sighed inwardly. Takuma was still in pain from before. The expression was plain on Takuma's face as the family gathered for lunch and Kichiro began to ask Sosei questions about himself, being constantly amazed by every answer that was given. Sasuke noticed it when Hikari even drew to Sosei, who despite his best efforts, couldn't shake off the joy that Hikari brought. Takuma sat in a corner, saddened. When it was time for them to go to bed, Sasuke pulled Takuma to the side.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, though he knew the answer. Takuma nodded.

"Yes, Father…I-I just need to rest. It's been a long day," he replied. Sasuke gave Takuma a stern but concerned look over.

"Takuma, if you're upset over Sosei being here, tell me. I could ask the Hokage for other arrangements." But there won't be any change. Besides, I did volunteer to take him in. Sasuke thought. Takuma's face was unmoved and his eyes revealed nothing about what he was thinking.

"No, Father. I'm fine. I just need to rest," Takuma reaffirmed. Reluctantly, Sasuke let him go to his room and watched as the door closed behind him. Sakura held Hikari in her arms and passed Sasuke as she went toward's the little princess' room. Sasuke peered down the hallway where the guest room, now Sosei's room, was and made his way down. The door was cracked open and Sasuke pushed it and let it creak to alert Sosei to his presence.

When he entered the room, Sosei was sitting in the dark, staring at the wall with his Sharingan. The crimson light bounced over to Sasuke as Sosei watched Sasuke enter. The revelation came to Sasuke quickly. Sosei was training himself to grow accustomed to the Sharingan.

Sosei's room was still relatively empty. The guest room in the house had only a desk and a bed. All that Sosei had brought with him when and Karin had show up laid against a wall in his bag.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked. He prayed the question didn't come out awkwardly. Sosei's Sharingan eyes went back to the wall.

"Yeah. I'm getting used to everything. Slowly, I guess. Kichiro and Hikari are hard not to like. Sakura is actually quite nice. Nicer than Mother made her seem and prettier." Sosei blinked and the red light disappeared and then reappeared. "You and Takuma are the weird pieces of this puzzle," Sosei said.

"Oh?" Sasuke hadn't intended on carrying a conversation. He heard Sakura entering their bedroom and wanted to at least attempt to persuade Sakura to satisfy his needs. But he felt that this was important enough to listen to. Sosei nodded.

"Yeah. Takuma hates me because I'm stronger than him. You…don't like me because I upset the 'balance'." Sosei said, so matter-of-factly that he nearly threw Sasuke off. Sasuke blinked. It was an accurate assessment. One that Sasuke didn't even have an answer for. Expect one."

"It's not that I don't like you. It's just that I see everything that was wrong with me at your age in you. Clearly, your mother thought that being around me could help you. I intend to do just that. All right?" Sasuke said. Sosei's Sharingan deactivated and he laid his head back on his pillow.

"Sure," Sosei said softly.

Sasuke left the guest bedroom and went to his bedroom. Sakura laid facing the door and smiled as she saw him enter. The pink-haired kunoichi leaned up and her eyes looked up and down Sasuke's body. Sasuke slowly stripped his clothes off until he was in only his boxers and climbed into bed.

Sakura's touch was welcoming and she nuzzled her head into Sasuke's chest.

"How'd the bell test go?" she asked. Sasuke softly rubbed her back.

"It went well. The team performed better than I thought they would. Might not be so bad after all," Sasuke said. Sakura giggled.

"That's good," she said.

"How was yours?" Sasuke asked.

"Busy. I had some paperwork to do at the hospital and for Naruto. The Hokage let me go home early once they discovered Sosei had run off," Sakura said, looking up at Sasuke. "He just…looks so much like you. Even sounds like you."

"I know. There's so much I have to do with him," Sasuke said. Sakura rubbed Sasuke's chest and kissed his neck.

"Don't worry about it tonight, love. Just rest," Sakura cooed. Sasuke obliged and kissed Sakura's forehead. His eyes closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

However, despite his best attempts, Sasuke's body refused to rest. Something simply felt off. The Uchiha resisted tossing and turning to keep from waking Sakura and instead stared at the ceiling. Hours passed by. Sasuke still couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was the fact that Sosei now lived with he and his family that was disturbing the order of things. Sasuke closed his eyes as he tried to convince himself that that was the reason everything in his home felt wrong. But he couldn't.

As Sasuke laid in the dark, he thought he heard something or someone moving in the halls outside of his room. He glanced over to the clock at his bedside to see that it flashed 1:47 AM.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke rose from his bed, shirtless and grabbed a pair of pants from the floor. As he neared his door, Sasuke heard whoever was in the hallway stop moving. Maybe Sosei had gotten up to fetch himself a drink. None of the other children had ever woken up in the middle of the night like this. Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling in his stomach.

Something was wrong.

When Sasuke opened the door, he saw what it was. Standing in the middle of the hallway was a darkly dressed man. In one hand, he held a kunai. In the other arm, he cradled a sleeping Hikari. As soon as he caught sight of Sasuke, the tip of the blade went to Hikari's neck. It would be stupid to demand what the man wanted. His intentions were clear. He wished to do harm to Sasuke's daughter. The Uchiha's brow furrowed and his eyes quickly shifted from night to blood.

The man's kunai was clean and Sasuke listened intently for Kichiro's snores. If he was safe, Sasuke presumed that Takuma and Sosei were as well. All Sasuke needed to do now was worry about this invader and his baby girl's life. Sasuke took a step forward and as expected, the man pressed his knife to Hikari's throat. Fury simmered in Sasuke's chest as he thought on his next move.

He had no idea who this man was but the fact that he was able to sneak into Sasuke's house mostly undetected was a testament to his ability. He was also bold, to hold his knife to the only daughter of Sasuke's. What mainly concerned Sasuke now was the man's speed. He needed to know how fast he was before he wasted any unnecessary amounts of chakra. However, Sasuke didn't have time to clinically assess his opponent's techniques like he usually did. His daughter's life hung in the balance.

And with that thought, Sasuke acted.

He phased across the floor, catching the dark figure off guard. Sasuke heard the man's audible gasp as Sasuke wrenched Hikari out of his arms and stood behind him, with his back to his daughter's open door. Sasuke set her down quickly on a pile of stuffed animals in the corner. The man attempted to retreat but Sasuke was much too fast. His hand clasped the man's shoulder firmly and the Uchiha's eyes bore into him.

"You're done," Sasuke said as he looked out to the expanse behind his house, honing in on a single leaf falling from a tree as his left eye shifted from blood to lavender. Sasuke saw the leaf fall outside his daughter's room as he shifted himself and the man outside in front of the lake. The dark figure tumbled in the grass before rolling to his feet. Sasuke immediately placed himself between the man and the house. His left eye reverted back to the Sharingan temporarily as he and the figure stood across from each other.

The man coughed. "Teleportation jutsu," he said. "Cleverness befitting the famed Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"You know who I am...yet you invaded my home and attempted to take my daughter's life?" Sasuke's anger was almost gushing out of his mouth but he tried to calm himself enough to ask questions. There had to be a connection between this man and the two Kiri hunters that killed Karin. "Who are you?" the Uchiha asked. The dark man spat.

"We both know that my identity doesn't matter," he said. Sasuke scowled. His patience was wearing thin enough as it was.

"Then tell me who sent you." The dark man smirked.

"The person who sent me doesn't want me to return to them until I've completed the mission assigned to me. If that means cutting you down in the process, then so be it. They'll be pleased, I can guarantee that," the man said. Sasuke almost wanted to laugh but his fury forbade him. Instead, he replied with a confidence that chilled the summer air.

"Fine. **Get past me**."

As if that was a mission assigned directly from the mouth of a Kage, the darkly dressed man darted across the grass towards Sasuke. A short, straight sword glinted in the moonlight. A wakizashi. Sasuke didn't have any bladed weapons on his person. He didn't need them. His eyes were enough.

The assassin made a wide-arcing sweep with his sword and when Sasuke leapt over it, he jabbed upward. Sasuke's aerial roundhouse kick was fast. His heel landed squarely underneath the man's jaw and he spun through the air, landing with a thud near the bank. He didn't give up. The assassin rose back to his feet, shaking off whatever damage Sasuke had dealt to him.

The tiger hand seal he performed was familiar and when multiple clones appeared at the man's side, Sasuke knew what it was. Clones. Not illusionary clones either. The moonlight would've betrayed them. Considering the seal, they had to be water clones. The next few hand seals, Sasuke predicted before they even came. The assassin had attempted to mask them by splitting his body into four and cutting down the amount of hand seals he'd have to perform. The water in Sasuke's lake began to ripple and rose high above the assassin and his clones.

" _Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu_!" the man yelled as a massive wave of water started to crash down on Sasuke. The Uchiha stared the oncoming wave down and his left eye shifted into the Eternal Mangekyo, the pattern of his beloved brother's etched into his own.

The black flames of Amaterasu burst into existence, creating a massive black wall of fire in front of Sasuke. The waterfall technique didn't stand a chance and immediately evaporated as it made contact with the black flames. Almost blending with the ebony blaze, the assassin hurled himself over them and descended on Sasuke, his wakizashi now coated in chakra. Sasuke had had enough. All it took was a glance and the man was engulfed in fire. His screams died quickly as his body was consumed. Still, more clones of the assassin jumped over the Amaterasu, all armed with their short swords. They all suffered the same fate.

The attack was futile. Sasuke knew this and he knew that the assassin knew it. Why waste chakra attacking an exponentially more powerful opponent? Unless these weren't attacks. Sasuke frowned as the thought entered his head. This assassin was merely creating a diversion. To what end, Sasuke didn't know but he suspected that his assailant wasn't alone. Sasuke expanded the Amaterasu wall and turned back towards his home. When he did, someone was behind him.

Her shape was comely enough in her sleek, all-black attire and her icy blue eyes caught Sasuke off guard. Her blade dripped with a purple liquid, probably poison. Her sudden lurch forward was almost too fast and Sasuke launched himself backwards to get out of the way. Not because he feared her poison. But because someone else had decided to take care of her.

The poison wielding woman yelped and a ten foot crater was created from the impact that followed. Sasuke saw through the dust with his Sharingan and blinked. Rising out of the crater with a bloodied fist was Sasuke's wife, the Queen of Fist. Sakura Haruno. In her other hand, she held the limp body of another darkly dressed figure. He must've gotten into the house behind the man. Sakura was in rare form. Her fists burned with sapphire blue chakra and she climbed out of the crater and quickly looked behind Sasuke at the the Amaterasu wall and then back to him.

"I caught this one sneaking into Hikari's room," she said, dropping the body she held in her arms. To Sasuke's surprise, the man wasn't dead. Not yet anyway. With as many bones as Sakura's attack had broken, he'd die soon from internal bleeding if he didn't receive treatment. Sasuke nodded and turned back towards the wall of black flames, causing them to dissipate with his left Mangekyo. As the wall fell, Sasuke saw the sacrificial lamb, laying on the ground grabbing desperately for his leg. When he saw Sasuke and Sakura approaching, he froze.

Without a word to Sakura, Sasuke pressed towards the man. The Chidori came naturally to his hand, the sound of one thousand birds chirping and lightning crackling echoing out in his yard. The man desperately attempted to back away, squinting his eyes in pain as he backpedaled on his burnt leg. As Sasuke closed the distance, the man did the unthinkable.

"Mercy! Please! Mercy! I'll tell you what you want!" he yelled. Sasuke's rage erupted inside of him like a volcano. Susano'o's purple ribcage and right arm manifested in an instant and the assassin was lifted into the air and squeezed. Sasuke stared the man down with his Eternal Mangekyo, eyes widened as his fury started to fester and spread like a fungus in his mind.

"You invade my home, threaten to spill the blood of my children and you ask for mercy?!" Sasuke yelled as his Susano'o began to crush the man he held. Blood dripped onto Susano'o's thumb as the man coughed. Sasuke eased up on his grip slightly. He needed the man to answer the question he had asked before. He refused to kill him before he received information. "This is the last time that I'm going to ask you." Sasuke growled. "Who. Sent. You?" he said. The assassin grit his teeth. Then, for some strange reason, he smiled. What appeared to be a seal appeared on the man's neck and head. Sasuke realized instantly that it was the writing normally placed on an explosive tag.

"For Yashin…" the man said.

_**Crunch.** _

Before the full explosion could be set off, Sasuke crushed the man's entire body in the hand of his Susano'o. A small explosion then set off, spreading the assassin's body parts on the bank. Blood spurted on the grass and on the rib cage of the chakra manifestation.

Sasuke wanted badly to feel relief from executing this invader that wished to do harm to his family, yet his mind felt even more heavy than before. So many questions rampaged through his mind. Why had his home been chosen? Why were they after his children? Who or what the hell was Yashin? Whatever or whoever it was, it was a name that might be a lead easily.

"Sasuke," Sakura said. Sasuke had almost forgotten his wife was present. When he turned to face her, he froze in his tracks. Sakura held forehead protectors in her hand, both of them with Kiri symbols inscribed on the metal. That wasn't what gave Sasuke pause. Standing outside the house behind Sakura were Sasuke's four children.

They were staring at the ghostly monster that surrounded Sasuke.

Sosei stared in awe.

Takuma stared in confusion.

Kichiro stared, his face pale with fear.

Hikari cried.


	7. Former Self

"Sasuke. You have to keep calm and think about this," Naruto sat at his desk, with his palms flat on the top. Sasuke was standing, with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth bent back in a scowl.

After dispatching the assassins that had broken into his house and attempted to harm his family, Sasuke hadn't slept the rest of the night. He had stood guard in the living room with his ears and eyes open. As soon as the sun had risen, he bolted straight to Naruto's office and the two had been deadlocked in conversation ever since.

"Keep _calm_?" Sasuke repeated, his voice growing louder. "How the hell am I supposed to _**keep calm**_ , Naruto? Kiri assassins invaded my home and almost killed my daughter!" Naruto's face was as rock hard as Sasuke had ever seen it.

"I understand that. But we can't just act without proper cause," the Hokage said. Sasuke's eyes widened and the chakra from his brain immediately activated his Sharingan as anger overwhelmed him. His fists slammed against the table and he leaned forward, staring deeply into Naruto's eyes. Naruto's advisor, Shikamaru leaned from against the cabinet, as if he were readying himself to restrain Sasuke.

"Would my daughter have had to die for there to be proper cause? Am I expected to sit here while the Mist sends assassins to harm me and my family? Do you have any idea what its like to nearly see your youngest child _die_!?" Sasuke demanded. Delirium was making his words jumbled and slurred. The lack of sleep and his anger was giving him a headache.

"No," Naruto said, rising from his chair. "I know what it's like to watch my youngest die." Sasuke stared forward, realizing what he had just said. Regret hit him in the chest. Before he could offer an apology, Naruto continued. "I expect you to obey your Hokage and listen to what I'm saying. Why would Kiri simply target you, Sasuke? Your reputation proceeds you. Everyone in the world knows as well as I do that if your family is threatened, you will do whatever it takes to annihilate that threat. Why would Kirigakure risk a war to prod at you?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "Maybe it's retribution for attacking the Fifth Mizukage all those years ago." Shikamaru sighed.

"That was almost twenty years ago. Besides, there was a trial after the war. All Five Nations as well as the Iron Country agreed that you'd be acquitted of all crimes prior to you siding with the Shinobi Alliance," he said. Sasuke remembered that well. Naruto had pressed upon the Kages and the Daimyōs to let him take responsibility for all of Sasuke's actions from that point forward. And he had.

"Besides," Shikamaru continued. "Attacking your family is an act of war. Not only has this peace treaty been maintaining healthy relations between the villages for some time now, but Kirigakure doesn't have the military strength to last a day in battle against Konoha. It'd be suicide." Sasuke heard him speaking and let it sink into his brain. His Sharingan deactivated and he sat back down in his seat. His head pounded.

"So the question still remains…" Naruto said. "Why would Kiri want to risk war with all of Konoha just to get to Sasuke?" Sasuke closed his eyes and took in several deep breaths. Maybe it hadn't been Kiri…maybe…

Sasuke looked up. "Yashin," He said. Shikamaru and Naruto looked at him with perplexed faces. "Before the assassin that had Hikari died, he mentioned something or someone named 'Yashin'. 'For Yashin' were his last words. Does anyone know who that is?" Sasuke asked, looking around. Naruto glanced over to Shikamaru and the Nara clan head sighed and pulled out a Bingo Book from his back pouch.

He flipped through it until he got to the end and blinked. "Yeah. Here he is," Shikamaru said, handing the book to Naruto. Naruto frowned, not out of anger but out of confusion.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked. "What does it say about him?" Naruto looked up and handed Sasuke the book. Sasuke looked at Yashin's profile and stared. His eyes narrowed.

There was little to nothing about him inside the book. This Bingo Book was currently edition, printed out yearly. There wasn't even a picture of this Yashin inside. No physical descriptions, nothing. Just a list of operations he supposedly performed and none of those pointed to him having any involvement with Kirigakure. The operations themselves barely even qualified for him to be placed inside of a Bingo Book. Just a few raids on trade roads. Sasuke kept flipping through, looking for anyone else named "Yashin".

"This doesn't make any sense. Are you sure this is his profile?" Sasuke asked.

"That's the only profile with the name 'Yashin' on it. That's our only clue. Are you sure that's the name you heard?" Shikamaru said. Sasuke nodded.

"I wouldn't forget a man's last words," Sasuke murmured grimly. Naruto sighed and folded his arms.

"So the only things we've got to go on are the Kiri headbands the assassins wore and the fact that one of them said, 'For Yashin' before he died," He said. Shikamaru nodded and Sasuke tried to keep from yawning. Sleep was attempting to take over his body and put him down.

"I suggest we wait for the ANBU team to return. They may have gained valuable information from the recon mission and we can use them to interrogate the one man that we brought in. After that, we can make our move," Shikamaru said.

"Why not let me do it?" Sasuke asked. "My Sharingan will expedite the process." Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't trust you to be around one of the men that attacked your family. We'll make our move after we get an ANBU operative to interrogate him but _not_ before," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke. The Uchiha returned the Hokage's gaze and their eyes locked on each other for a moment. "Do we have an understanding, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke slowly nodded.

"Fine. I'll wait. But I will not let my family live in fear," Sasuke said. Naruto dipped his head in understanding.

"They won't have to. Until this threat is dealt with, your home will be under surveillance by ANBU operatives of my choosing. I'll have you review each and every one of them with me. The security of your family is Konoha's top priority. The Uchiha are Konoha and a threat to you is a threat to me," Naruto said.

The Hokage's words had Sasuke feel uncharacteristically warm inside. It wasn't like Naruto hadn't said these sort of things before. He had been for Sasuke reviving his clan from the start. Maybe Sasuke was just too tired to save face now.

"Good," Sasuke said as he rubbed his head. His black eyes looked up to the Hokage. "Naruto, what I said before was…" he started. Naruto raised his hand.

"It's fine…" he said, trailing off and looking past Sasuke. The Uchiha knew that it really wasn't. His words had cut Naruto deeply. He tried to think of something he could say to Naruto to bring that big dumb grin back on his face…but he was never good at that. But, Naruto was great at carrying on as if things didn't faze him. The blonde Hokage looked down at Sasuke and smirked. "You look like shit," He said.

Sasuke could only imagine the bags under his eyes coupled with the pained expression on his face from his headaches. He probably did look like shit. "You never look much better," Sasuke retorted, smirking at his friend. Naruto chuckled and Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"While I'm sure you'd like to get some rest right now, Sasuke, there's something else you'll have to do before that can happen," he said. Sasuke raised his head. Within moments, he realized what he had almost forgotten. Karin's ceremony was today. Any other time, Sasuke would've skipped out and slept, but he needed to be there. For Sosei. For his son.

"It won't be long," Naruto said, as if he was reading Sasuke's thoughts as always. "I doubt that there will be a large turn out besides your family and myself. Not many people in Konoha really got to know Karin." Sasuke scoffed inwardly.

 _Or liked her,_  he added in his thoughts.

"Then I need to go and get dressed," Sasuke said, more as a command to himself than to anyone in the room with him. Rising, Sasuke nodded to Naruto and Shikamaru. After returning the gesture, Naruto spoke.

"We'll look over the ANBU guards later this afternoon. Hopefully by then, the team I sent out will have returned," he said. Sasuke paused.

Sasuke left the office and made his way home, his head still pounding from everything that had happened. Assassins invaded his home and they had tried to take or kill his daughter. He wasn't sure what their intentions had been or why they had even sought out Hikari.

If they sought the Sharingan, they could've attempted to force Sosei to use his and steal it. If they sought to kill Sasuke, which they had failed miserably at doing, then why go through all that trouble? It didn't make any sense. Who the hell was this Yashin and what did he want? What was he after?

To attack an Uchiha was bold. Few people had ever sought conflict with members of the Uchiha clan. To attack him was craziness beyond what Sasuke could comprehend. Naruto had said it before and Sasuke agreed. The world knew about Sasuke. When he was only 3 years older than Sosei, he had battled five Kage in a single day and not only survived, but killed the one he had aimed for. At thirty-four, his power was almost absolute. The older generations rumored that his strength had eclipsed Madara's ten years ago and that he may be one of the strongest shinobi ever born.

**_Why would Yashin target him?_ **

The question plagued Sasuke as he stepped through the front door of his home. Things were quiet as he had expected. Sosei's room door was cracked open. Sasuke could see the sunlight peeking down the hallway and he walked towards it. He opened it and saw Sasuke looking over the clothes that he had packed with him. Sosei turned and Sasuke saw that his face was saddened.

"I…don't have anything proper to wear for today," he whispered. Sasuke looked over him and blinked.

"Wait a moment," Sasuke said. He walked down the hall to the shoji doors and slid them open. Clothing with Uchiha emblems embroidered on the back and they were in all sizes. Sasuke had prepared for the swelling of his clan since the day he and Sakura had started their relationship. Every piece of clothing they bought had been touched by the Uchiha symbol. Sasuke looked through and pulled out a black robe top and pants, form fitting. The same clothes that he had worn when the Third had died.

Sasuke returned to Sosei's room and handed him the clothes. Sosei took it and turned it over, his eyes widening as the red and white Uchiha fan came into his view. He looked up at Sasuke and the older Uchiha returned his gaze. There was a silent understanding in the brief eye contact and Sasuke left without a word. He had to prepare himself, Sakura and the other children.

The Uchiha family stood outside, the wind coming in spurts to let it's cool presence be known. Sosei stood a little bit ahead of them, looking at Karin as she laid in the casket. As much as he had disliked her during her life, Sasuke had to admit to himself that Karin looked particularly beautiful laying in peace. Whoever had handled her body had combed her hair out so that it's full length dropped well past her shoulders. Karin's body had also been dressed in white with the old Uzumaki clan emblem displayed prominently on the center of her dress.

Naruto stood behind the casket and faced the Uchiha family. Shikamaru stood next to him, while Hinata and Honami stood with Sasuke's family. Sasuke glanced at Honami. Her red hair was a shade darker than Karin's.

"Family and friends…" Naruto started. "We are gathered today to remember Karin, the mother of Sosei and a member of the Uzumaki clan. I do admit that I didn't know her for very long, but while I did, her intelligence and genuine heart were clear to me. I would hope that we would remember and grieve for her loss and not let it be in vain." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at his old friend.

How was he feeling now, looking at the last member of the clan he hadn't even known he belonged to until seventeen years prior? Sasuke thought he had an idea. He knew the pain of being the last of his kind. He looked at Sosei as Naruto stepped forward to close the casket. The gray-eyed Uchiha looked to his dead mother, tears welling up in his eyes, yet his face didn't falter. It was expressionless and cold. Stoic and flint-like.

An avenger's face.

Sasuke looked to Sakura and saw that his wife's face was nothing less than sympathetic. Sasuke knew that Sakura had hated Karin for years. Even before he and Sakura had gotten into a relationship, Karin had attempted to sabotage their friendship. But even through all of that, Sasuke also knew that Sakura would never allow her feelings for Sosei's mother to change how she treated him. Sasuke knew firsthand Sakura was a woman that gave chances and he was truly grateful for that.

The children stood in respectful silence. Takuma stood close to Honami while Kichiro struggled to keep quiet as Karin's casket was lowered into the earth. Hinata was as silently elegant, walking to Naruto's side and rubbing his arm as he turned away to face Sosei. The young Uchiha's eyes met with the Hokage's but the two didn't exchange words. Naruto then looked to Sasuke.

Help him. His blue gaze sank into Sasuke's black eyes. Sasuke nodded and watched as the Hokage and his family departed. Honami hugged Takuma, waved to Kichiro and Hikari then briefly glanced up at Sasuke. The girl flashed a polite smile and then looked at Sosei. The boy stood staring at his mother's grave with his hands in his pocket. Sasuke stepped forward and dipped his head towards Shikamaru as the man walked after Naruto.

The older Uchiha stood next to Sosei and looked down to Karin's casket with baggy eyes. He then looked over to Sosei. The gray-eyed boy wiped his eyes and then looked up to the sky. Sasuke could only guess what the boy was thinking. Probably the same thoughts he would've been. Lack of sleep was causing him to have an immense lapse in judgment and he wasn't about to ruin any progress he had made with his son.

Instead, he said, "Stay as long as you want. I'll be here with you." Sosei shrugged and blinked.

"Let's go." Sosei turned away from Sasuke and walked away towards Sakura and his siblings. He passed them without a word and the Uchiha family parted to let him through. Sakura looked towards Sasuke, her face filled with worry. Sasuke blinked at her, nodded, and walked towards them.

Eventually, the Uchiha family joined together and made their way back to the Uchiha Estate. The children raced into the house, except Sosei and Kichiro. The younger Uchiha brother stayed closed to his oldest brother, not saying anything, which surprised Sasuke, but only offering his presence. Sosei didn't push him away with words or a glance. Sasuke stared puzzled by the events but decided against thinking until he had had proper rest.

When he entered his bedroom, he slowly stripped off his clothes and laid in his bed, not even bothering to pull the covers over his body. Darkness covered him instead as he subconscious drifted.

The next thing he felt was his wife's soft hand touching his face. His eyes flickered open. The sun lit up the room a light orange color, telling Sasuke that it was settling into evening. The Uchiha stared up at Sakura who smiled at him gently. "Baby," Sakura whispered. "The boys are waiting for you." Sasuke blinked and yawned then closed his mouth, mindful of the dryness of his tongue.

"Where are they?" he asked. Sakura kissed his forehead and Sasuke felt himself smile at her beautiful face.

"They're outside," Sakura replied. "Playing around a little bit. I didn't want them to mess up anything else in the backyard so I told them I'd come and get you." Sasuke scoffed and rose out of bed. Stretching, the Uchiha yawned.

"The entire backyard was almost burnt completely by the Amaterasu last night," he said. "I doubt there's anything the three of them could do to destroy the lakefront anymore." Sakura nodded.

"That is true. I suppose we can agree that the black flames were a bit extreme." Sasuke sighed softly.

"He was trying to get to Hikari and I overreacted. The Amaterasu wall was the only thing I knew would be impenetrable," Sasuke explained. Sakura raised her hand.

"I know, I know. I'm just telling you to be careful. You really frightened them last night." Sasuke nodded. He thoroughly remembered the looks on all of his children's faces when he turned to face them. His purple Susano'o had only been in its skeletal form since Sasuke hadn't bothered to materialize it fully for such a low-level threat. However, he knew how his children felt. When he had seen Itachi's Susano'o for the first time, he had nearly shit himself.

Sasuke rubbed his head. "Did anyone from the Hokage's office come by?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"No. If you're still waiting for that ANBU team to return, they haven't showed up yet." Sakura rubbed Sasuke's shoulder. "Be patient. They should be back before the week is over," she said. Sasuke closed his eyes.

"They're only supposed to be scouting the Land of Water and Kirigakure, not engaging in any kind of combat. They should've been back by now," Sasuke answered.

"The Land of Water is across the sea. Getting there and back even with shinobi would take at least two days. Not besides the fact that they've been given orders to extensively scout the area. It will take time," Sakura said, her green eyes casting a patient glow onto Sasuke. The Uchiha sighed and walked towards the closet.

"Alright," he conceded. Sasuke opened the closet and then dressed himself in a black long-sleeved, crew neck shirt with white pants. The Uchiha then headed outside to see what his sons were doing. Sakura followed behind him and rubbed against his arm. Her touch made Sasuke feel warm in his chest. He missed her touch so badly.

Outside, Sosei, Takuma and Kichiro were sparring with each other while Hikari clapped and cheered from the sideline. When his children noticed that he had appeared, they all paused.

"Hi, Papa!" Hikari cried, pointing at her older brothers. "Soso was fighting Taku and Kichi!" she said. Sasuke smirked. His Uchiha princess had already picked out a nickname for Sosei.

"Oh, really? And who won?" Sasuke asked. Hikari held her finger to her chin.

"Ummm…Soso. He's good," she said with a smile. Sasuke nodded and looked into Sosei's dark grey eyes. The young boy put his hands in his pocket.

"So, you're up?" he asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah," he said, looking from Sosei to Takuma and Kichiro. The two younger brothers were panting and looked to be scuffed up. Sasuke believed Hikari's assessment. Sosei's normal, confident smirk wasn't present on his face this time though. The young Uchiha was surprisingly devoid of expression. He looked almost, empty.

"Dad," Sosei said. Takuma looked over at Sosei as if the word he had just used was a vicious curse. "Are we going back to that Spot of yours?" Sasuke looked around the backyard that extended to the lake. Sakura was right. It did look pretty bad. Sasuke's Amaterasu had terribly scorched a long stretch of the grass, turning the green to a charred black. It would probably be best if they headed to the Spot.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied. The Uchiha turned to Sakura. "Will you be alright here?" he asked softly. Sakura nodded with that fierce look of determination in her eyes.

"Of course. Have fun with the boys," she said. She stepped forward and kissed Sasuke softly. The Uchiha looked down at his wife and felt a smile touch his face. Sasuke turned and walked down the steps, rounding up his sons. The Uchiha brethren followed their father, waving back at Sakura and Hikari. All of them except Sosei.

Sosei walked silently, pace for pace, alongside Sasuke with his hands in his pocket and his dark grey eyes deadly focused. Sosei had been a wound up spring ever since Karin's funeral. Sasuke could sense the emotion welling up within him. If he had been sparring with Takuma and Kichiro, he wasn't getting the cathartic release that he needed. Fighting them was child's play. When Sasuke and his sons had finally entered the Spot, Sasuke had already made up his mind.

"Sosei," he said. "Let's go to the center of the field. Takuma and Kichiro, watch." Kichiro obeyed while Takuma paused. His green eyes sparked with a flame of envy before he turned and did what Sasuke had bid him to do.

Sosei Uchiha walked to the center of the clearing where Sasuke waited for him. The elder Uchiha looked down at his son and briefly froze. It was like staring at the same angry boy that he had once been. They had the same look in their eyes. The same pursed lips. The same empty, careless posture. Sasuke wouldn't let him go down that path.

The Curse of Hatred had no place in his home.

"Begin," Sasuke said. Sosei darted forward, his Sharingan activating as soon as he took his third step forward. Sosei's first attack was a kick that Sasuke crossed his arms to block. Sosei twisted his body to punch Sasuke and when that failed, Sosei wriggled free and flipped away. His feet had barely touched the ground before he darted forward again, his blood red Sharingan fixing itself on Sasuke's cold onyx stare. Sasuke allowed himself to be caught in Sosei's genjutsu.

Sosei was making himself seem slower than he actually was so that he could surprise Sasuke. Perhaps effective against someone without a Sharingan or extensive knowledge of genjutsu. To think that Sosei had managed to get this far by just staring at a wall. Sasuke shattered the genjutsu just as Sosei was within arm's length of him and grabbed the boy by his collar. Sosei grit his teeth and stared angrily into Sasuke's eyes.

A mistake.

Sasuke's Sharingan formed in his eyes and locked Sosei into a genjutsu. Sasuke could feel Sosei's mind struggling to break free of Sasuke's grasp. The elder Uchiha didn't relent. Instead, he spoke inside of the boy's head.

 _Be calm. Find peace._ his words flowed through Sosei's mind.

 _No,_ Sosei responded. _Not until my mother is avenged._

 _It won't happen unless you're strong and wise enough to do it. Let me help you,_ Sasuke said. There was silence then Sosei responded.

_Fine._

When Sasuke released his hold on Sosei, barely a second had truly passed by on the outside. Sosei gasped and panted as he looked up at Sasuke. He frowned.

"So that's the Sharingan's power?" he asked.

"One of many," Sasuke replied, folding his arms. "As long as you obey me, I'll teach you how to properly use those eyes." The older Uchiha then looked to Takuma and Kichiro. Sasuke's heir looked to be silently observing them, taking in every bit of information he could. Kichiro's eyes were wide open as well. "Come," Sasuke said to them.

Takuma and Kichiro walked towards the center of the Spot and stopped next to Sosei. Sasuke's eyes passed over all three of his children. Sosei, the angered avenger. Takuma, his heir. Kichiro, the eager youngster. He saw himself in his sons as any father would. And also like any father, he needed to teach them how to properly fend for themselves.

"Earlier this morning, our home was invaded and we were attacked. For some reason, assassins attempted to do harm to your little sister, Hikari. In order to prevent something like this from ever happening again, all three of you are going to be training harder everyday. I will not accept any failure or complaints. Only progression. Is that understood?" When his sons nodded, Sasuke dipped his head. "Good...then let's begin."

For three days, Sasuke drilled all three children in every aspect of shinobi training from general substitution jutsu to advanced tracking techniques. The elder Uchiha even incorporated these lessons into his fledgling team's assignments, causing Shōgo to wonder what Takuma had done to cause the entire team to be "punished". Sasuke's drive to make his children stronger was dueling with his own internal drive to handle things his own way.

He had waited, as Naruto had ordered and Sakura had suggested, for the ANBU recon team to return. For these three days, however, Sasuke's paranoia had grown wildly out of control. The Uchiha had grown restless and had begun to actively avoid sleeping at night in order to watch his home. Losing sleep made the Uchiha's already vivid ideas of a threat towards his household more lucid. He hadn't even seen Naruto for all three days, despite spending time training his daughter.

Waiting around had worn on Sasuke's patience and he refused to do so any longer. He knew exactly where the assassin he and Sakura had turned in was located. All that he needed to do now was infiltrate the prison and have a talk with the man. That was easy enough. Sasuke slunk past the outer guard and delve deep into the bowels on the jail, deciding further and further until he got near the dungeons where Konoha's worst criminals were held. In the past, Sasuke had helped Naruto put many of these men behind bars. The others hadn't been saved by Naruto's mercy.

When Sasuke finally reached the cell where the assassin was held, he spied two guards in front of the door. He recognized one of them as a Nara and the other as a Hyūga. In the end, it didn't matter. Sasuke was on a mission. He didn't try to hide his footsteps now. he just walked forward.

"Who's there?" a voice called from down the hall. Sasuke continued to approach, unbothered. When he didn't answer, he heard the shifting of the guards' feet.. As he appeared out of the shadows, the brown-haired Hyūga guard to the left gawked.

"Sasuke Uchiha…what are you doing here?" the man asked. The Uchiha stared forward nonchalantly as he walked.

"I'm going to have a talk with the prisoner," he said. The two guards exchanged glances.

"Lord Hokage has given orders that you be prohibited from seeing him. The ANBU squad hasn't returned yet," the black-haired guard to the right replied. Sasuke ignored them and continued to walk forward, only stopping when the guards looked to be readying themselves to fight him off. It wasn't because he was worried.

It was pure bemusement.

"We can't let you through, Sasuke," the Hyūga said. The Uchiha wanted to laugh.

"You won't **let** me?" Sasuke asked. His black eyes were perceptive enough to make out the beads of sweat falling from their brows. They were loyal to the Hokage and his orders. But fear was winning over.

"Please," the brown-haired guard said. "Just turn back. Whatever information you wish to gain tonight will be gathered by the ANBU. Just be patient." He gulped after his last words. As much as Sasuke wanted to discharge their fears, he refused to wait any longer. Not with his family's lives on the line.

One glance from Sasuke's Sharingan was all it took for the guards to fall under a genjutsu and unlock the prisoner's cell. The door slammed shut behind the Uchiha, leaving him and the prisoner in complete darkness, except for the ominous bloody glow of the Sharingan. Sasuke heard the prisoner's chains rattle.

"You," he rasped. Sasuke walked forward, his eyes piercing through the darkness. His voice was a low, calm growl.

"Yes, me." He was standing in front of the man now, glaring down at him. The assassin averted his eyes from Sasuke's gaze.

"I won't tell you anything," he said.

"That's where you're wrong." Several flickers of lightning came to Sasuke's hand and he jabbed it forward into the man's shoulder. Shocks of lightning traveled through the man's body and he yelled out in pain. Sasuke's eyes stayed focused on the man's face as he finally calmed from the shock. The Uchiha then ripped his hand out and blood splattered onto the ground. "Who is Yashin?" Sasuke asked immediately.

"I-I can't..." the prisoner started. Sasuke ripped another hole into the man, in his thigh this time. The lightning spark and the spurting of blood alerted Sasuke to the fact that he had come into contact with an artery. The assassin let out an inaudible cry and Sasuke ripped his hand out again.

"Talk," Sasuke said, still calm. The assassin panted from the pain. For the first time, Sasuke thought he saw regret in the man's face, instantly replaced by absolute fear.

"I can't," he repeated. Sasuke closed his eyes and anger swirled around in his chest, cool as a winter chill. A full-powered Chidori sparked in Sasuke's hand, the sound of lightning and a thousand birds chirping filling the small cell. In the bluish-white light of the attack, Sasuke could see the prisoner's eyes widen in fear.

This time, Sasuke didn't hold back. Quicker than the Chidori had come to his hand, did it find its way into the prisoner's abdomen. The man coughed out blood as Sasuke stared into his eyes. "Tell me! Who is Yashin?!" Sasuke demanded.

Once again, the prisoner repeated, "I can't." The Uchiha had had enough. The Eternal Mangekyo came to Sasuke's right eye and he locked on to the man's widening pupils. Sasuke's genjutsu cracked into the man's mind in seconds, searching for an answer to his question. Who is Yashin? Sasuke tore through the man's memories and his thoughts.

A voice whispered.

_Search. Kill. Konoha. Uchiha. Hatred. Vengeance._

Was that Yashin's voice? Sasuke saw a figure sitting in the shadows and felt the fear that the prisoner had when he was in this man's presence. The figure stepped forward and placed his hand on the prisoner's chest, whispering something else Sasuke couldn't hear. Something was off.

The figure stared up, as if he was staring straight at Sasuke. Outside of the genjutsu, Sasuke heard something being said and instinct told him to pull away and release his hold. He only caught the last end of what the prisoner had been muttering while Sasuke tore new holes into his mind.

"...for Yashin," the prisoner said. Sasuke's eyes widened as the writing from the explosive tags appeared on the man's chest and spread over his entire body, faster than it had on his partner earlier in the morning. It took a split second for his body to start to be lit on fire. Susano'o enclosed his body and spread through the cell, shielding the guards that stood behind the door. It was all Sasuke could do.

The man exploded, not only in a literal fire but in an eruption of chakra. The back end of the prison cell blew away, sending the cement of the wall barreling down the hallway. Susano'o protected Sasuke from direct damage but it didn't protect his hearing. The explosion caused the Uchiha's ears to ring and he held his hands up to cup his ears. Through the smoke, he could make out a few images. Several people appeared and ran towards him, barreling through the smoke. Sasuke held his breath and tongue as he saw who led them.

The Hokage's bright blue eyes narrowed and blazed like a flame and Sasuke stared back at him as his Susano'o faded and his ears stopped ringing.

"I told you to wait," Naruto said, dropping his arms to the side and balling his fists. "What did you do!?" Sasuke frowned.

"I gathered information." Sasuke replied. "Whoever this Yashin is, he placed seals on the assassins he sent for me. Whenever they say 'For Yashin', the writing on an explosive tag appears on their bodies and they explode. The explosions must get stronger after every one is used. The last man didn't do this level of damage." Naruto shook.

"You disobeyed my direct orders! You could've gotten everyone in this cell block killed, guards included. Did you even think about that?!" Naruto raged. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"I did. If it gets me closer to Yashin, I don't care." Sasuke said. Naruto's eyes widened and he stepped back.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You've been acting..." Sasuke knew what the Hokage would say before the words even left his mouth.

"Like my old self?" the Uchiha whispered. He had noticed the change in his thinking as well. Since the attack on his home, Sasuke had been short-tempered and short-sighted. But he hadn't completely lost himself. He had tried to protect the guards outside of the cell but hadn't thought about the explosion rebounding off of his Susano'o. But, his words had rung true. He was beginning not to care. His only goals were to protect his family and get to Yashin by whatever means necessary.

Naruto pressed forward. "I told you that a threat to the Uchiha is a threat to Konoha and I'm treating this as such. But I will not allow you to run rogue in my village and do what you please. This is your only warning," Naruto said. "Do not test me." Sasuke seethed slightly but held his tongue. Arguing with Naruto was one thing, but Sasuke didn't want to push the confrontation to blows.

"Fine," Sasuke replied. His answer didn't sate the Hokage but before he could respond, another figure pushed through the smoke. He had spiky silver hair, an ANBU mask and was dressed in a dark brown cloak with his hood pulled back. Naruto turned to him and nodded.

"Lord Hokage. Lord Sasuke." the voice sounded like a young boy. Sasuke only knew one person that could be so young with silver hair. This ANBU operative had to be Kakashi's son, Komuji. "I didn't mean to interrupt..." the boy said. Naruto shook his head.

"No, no, I'm glad you did. We're heading to my office so I can properly debrief you." Naruto made seals for Shadow Clones and sent them off to help the remaining guards. Sasuke watched as they passed and casually observed the damage he had indirectly wrought. If he had just waited...

Naruto grabbed Sasuke and Komuji by the shoulders and in a flash of yellow, the three of them were back in the Hokage's office. The only thing that lit the room was the moon that penetrated the darkness with his white light. Naruto didn't even bother to sit down. It seemed to Sasuke that he was as eager as he was to receive some information.

"Report," Naruto said. "What is the situation in Kiri?" Sasuke looked to the Hatake boy as he breathed softly.

"The situation, Lord Hokage, is non-existent," Komuji said. Naruto raised and eyebrow and Sasuke stared incredulously at the boy. The Hokage folded his arms.

"Komuji...what are you saying?" he asked. The silver-haired boy sighed softly and looked up at both of his superiors.

"The Village Hidden In The Mist doesn't exist anymore. It's nothing but ruins."


	8. Former Self II

Sasuke and Naruto stared at Komuji with wide eyes and mouths agape. Sasuke quickly closed his and attempted to regain his cool although the news shook him to his core. Kirigakure was in ruins? How could that be? Had Yashin done it?

"W-was there any sign of the Mizukage?" Naruto asked.

"Or Suigetsu?" Sasuke added. Komuji shook his head.

"No, sir," he replied. Sasuke looked away and glared out of the window. Was Suigetsu truly gone? He had wished for some time that that talkative shinobi would disappear but now that it seemed that he had done so at the hands of Yashin, Sasuke felt angered. All of this was starting to confirm one thing for Sasuke...

"Was there anyone in the village at all?" Naruto asked. This time, the Hatake boy nodded.

"Yes, sir, there was. My team and I found a girl. She's with them now across the hall. My medic is treating her," Komuji said, his voice carrying the same nonchalant tone of his father.

"We need to speak to her immediately," the Hokage said. Komuji dipped his head.

"I'll bring her in at once," he said. "But, she hasn't spoken a word. She may be in shock."

"We'll see," Naruto said. With that, Komuji left the room. In the brief moments before Kakashi's son returned, Sasuke's mind shifted through the fog that was his thoughts. Things were clear and unclear at the same time. Suigetsu and the Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, were nowhere to be found and Kiri was in ruins? The Uchiha tried to maintain some level of optimism, but found that his nature prevented him from doing such a thing.

Komuji returned with five other ANBU operatives in tow. The masked and cloaked figures parted, revealing a dirty brown-haired girl standing in their midst. The child stared blankly around the room. Sasuke watched as the girl's eyes finally fell on him. They were an odd color, deep purple, but instantly familiar to the Uchiha man. The way her sharpened canine teeth protruded out of her mouth sent a nostalgic chill down Sasuke's spine.

"Are you Sasuke?" the girl asked. Her voice was light and soft, almost like Hinata's was. Slowly, the Uchiha nodded.

"Yes," he replied.

"My daddy told me a lot about you," the little girl said.

"Suigetsu?" the Uchiha asked. The young girl barely nodded, shutting her eyes tight. A trickle of tears crawled down her cheek and Sasuke could hear the girl whimper. Sasuke wanted to step forward and comfort her, but Naruto beat him to it. His hand went to her shoulder and the little girl looked up at him. The Hokage's gaze seemed to calm the girl.

"Hey," Naruto said. "What's your name?" he asked. The little girl sniffled.

"Setsuka," she replied.

"Ok, Setsuka," the Hokage said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the Hokage." Setsuka nodded.

"I know. Daddy talked about you, too." the girl replied. Naruto smiled.

"Nice things, I hope." Setsuka shrugged.

"Mostly," she answered. Sasuke could see why Suigetsu would say "mostly" nice things about Naruto. The two of them had differing philosophies and though Naruto had attempted to bring Suigetsu into Konoha, the swordsman's heart lied in the Kiri. The separation had been amiable from what Sasuke could remember, though that entire period of time was somewhat of a blur to Sasuke. Karin was to blame for that.

"Alright, Setsuka," Naruto said. "I really need your help with something. The masked men say that you were hidden in the ruins of Kiri."

"I was," Setsuka replied, twiddling her fingers.

"Did you see how the village came to ruins?" Naruto asked, kneeling down to face the girl. Setsuka nodded. Naruto continued. "Can you please tell us what happened?" Setsuka sniffled and shook her head. She started to cry.

"It was so scary! He destroyed everything!" she said, her purple eyes lifted to meet Naruto's. Sasuke looked down at the girl. He had expected the daughter of Suigetsu to be much more talkative. The Uchiha glanced over to the Hokage who kept his patient gaze on Setsuka.

"Tell me what happened," he said. "If we're going to get the person responsible for destroying your home, I need your help. Can you do that for me?" Naruto asked. Setsuka wiped her eyes and sniffled as she looked at Naruto. There was a quiet spark of determination in her eyes.

"Ok, I will," she said. Naruto dismissed the ANBU Black Ops with a hand wave and the shadow walkers disappeared in a blur. Sasuke leaned against Naruto's bookcase and folded his arms. In a few brief moments, a clone of Naruto opened the door and Shikamaru entered, wiping his eyes. Sasuke narrowed his. The Hokage must've sent for him with one of his clones after the ANBU team had returned.

"Awfully late to be calling a meeting," Shikamaru sighed in his normal, lazy tone. When he saw Setsuka, he glanced at Naruto.

"Sorry to wake you, but this young lady may have very valuable information on the man we're chasing. She was just about to speak," Naruto said. Shikamaru nodded and stood in silence. Sasuke's eyes met Setsuka's as the girl looked around the room. She looked nervous, but the determination hadn't left.

"I was sleeping when things started to explode outside. Daddy was out there so I ran to look for him. Everyone was screaming and running the other way. I got through the crowds to where I thought the explosion came from…that's when I saw him." Setsuka's eyes grew wide. "The one who caused it all." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Yashin…" he said softly. Setsuka looked up at him and blinked.

"Is that his real name?" she asked. Sasuke frowned.

"What do you mean?" Setsuka looked away.

"He said his name was something else," she said, pausing as she tried to remember. "I think he said, 'Akugo'." Sasuke looked over to Naruto, who looked back. A sudden sigh from Shikamaru alerted both of them. The jonin shook his head.

"Dammit," he said, looking back at Naruto. "This is bad…" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What is?" he asked. Shikamaru shook his head.

"I'll be right back. I left my Bingo Book in my house," he said, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke frowned and looked at Naruto, who shrugged. Setsuka blinked and looked between the two of them.

"What's going on? Can I keep talking?" she asked. Naruto smiled.

"I'm sorry, Setsuka. Keep going, please," he said. Setsuka breathed in and nodded.

"Ok…after I saw him, that's when I saw the Mizukage. The old lady was fighting Akugo and looked like she was winning but then, Akugo stabbed her with his sword," she said.

"And that killed her?" Naruto asked. Sasuke silently shook his head. He knew personally how hard it was to actually kill a Kage. Madara had nearly killed all five, but hadn't been taking the battle seriously. He doubted some figure had power comparable to his own, especially one that fought from the shadows and sent assassins to do his work.

"No," Setsuka said, echoing Sasuke's shaking head. "The stab didn't kill her. But his technique did. Akugo started to suck out her chakra and life force with his sword." Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Naruto rubbed his chin.

"Sucked out her chakra?" he asked.

"Could it have been Samehada?" Sasuke asked. The sharkskin sword was notorious for its ability to consume chakra and feed it to its wielder, but…

"No," Naruto said. "Octopops has had that sword for the last seventeen years. He refused to hand it over to Suigetsu. Remember, they had a big fight over it." Sasuke nodded. He did remember it quite well. It had been ten years ago and though Sasuke hadn't been in attendance, he had heard that Suigetsu was soundly bested by the former Hachibi jinchūriki.

"Then what could it be?" Sasuke asked, almost to himself. He then looked at Setsuka. "What did Y-Akugo's sword look like?" he asked.

"Um…it looked like a regular katana. It had a black blade, though. I think it turned green when it took the Mizukage's life," the girl said. Sasuke nodded. The information that this girl was presenting was interesting. Yashin possessed a chakra and life force siphoning sword, a specially made one by the sound of it. It seemed he may be a chakra absorption type shinobi.

"Ok, what else happened?" Sasuke asked. Setsuka gulped.

"Daddy went to fight him. He defended himself against Akugo for a while. I tried looking for Auntie Karin and cousin Sosei but they had left before it all happened. It was like they knew it was coming. I think Daddy did too, but the Mizukage didn't believe him," Setsuka sobbed. She wiped her eyes. "I tried to get out of the way but some kind of Doton shook the earth and I got trapped in a building. The dust choked me and I passed out."

"And my ANBU team found you?" Naruto asked. Setsuka shook her head.

"No, I found them." Setsuka pointed to her nose. "I tracked their chakra with my nose. Karin taught me how." Naruto smirked.

"That was clever of you. I'm very glad that you did, you were very helpful," Naruto said. "I want you to stay here under my protection until I know things are safe. Is that ok with you?" Setsuka slowly nodded and sighed.

"Do…you think my Daddy will come find me? Or is he…?" Setsuka asked. Naruto looked to be struggling to weave the words together to tell Setsuka the truth, so Sasuke stepped in.

"If Suigetsu didn't pull you out of the rubble himself, I think it's safe to assume that Akugo may have killed him the same way he did the Mizukage," the Uchiha said. "Also, Akugo managed to get inside our village and kill Karin as well." Setsuka's face fell into her hands and Sasuke felt an odd feeling in his stomach. Was his verbal punch too severe?

"But," Naruto said, giving Sasuke an eyeful of his displeasure, "Sosei is very much alive and living with Sasuke." Setsuka lifted her head and smiled through her tears.

"Really? Can I see him?" she asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"Not now. It's too late," Sasuke said. "Maybe later in the day." Setsuka nodded. Naruto sighed.

"Well, for tonight and maybe further on, you'll stay with me in the Hokage mansion. I have a daughter myself and I'm sure she wouldn't mind having a younger sister around," Naruto said. Setsuka grinned.

"Ok," she said excitedly. Naruto's grin widened and he rubbed his head. Sasuke shook his, his bangs drifting from side to side. As powerful as Naruto was as Hokage, he knew that there was one place where the power often shifted. His home. Hinata was soft-spoken but her confidence had grown in volumes over the past few years. Sasuke knew that Naruto needed to speak to his wife before he invited children into their home.

A puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room and as it dissipated, Shikamaru stood in the middle with his Bingo Book. He looked towards Setsuka and walked toward her.

"Hey, kid, can you look at this picture?" he asked. Setsuka nodded and as Shikamaru showed her the image, Setsuka gasped.

"That's him! The mask…the cloak! That's Akugo!" she cried. Sasuke wrinkled his brow and walked forward. Shikamaru tossed the book towards him and Sasuke stared intently at the picture. A black cloak and an oni mask.

"This is…" Sasuke said.

"Our guy," Shikamaru replied. "He's been on the wanted list for some years now. But while he's been gunning for you, he's been operating under another name. It's a classic criminal strategy."

"So who the hell is he?" Sasuke asked.

"Wait," Naruto said as he created a clone of himself. The clone escorted Setsuka outside of the room and when the two of them had gone, Naruto waved his hand. Shikamaru began to speak.

"About four years ago, there was a report in the Land of Iron that a famous samurai by the name of Kojiro Ganryū was killed and his sword had been stolen by a cloaked figure. That sword was called 'Jinsei-gui', roughly translated as 'Life Eater'. It was a black bladed katana that glowed green and blue depending on what energy it sucked from its target," Shikamaru said.

"Thats what Setsuka described," Naruto said. Shikamaru nodded.

"That's good, so we do have positive identification." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"So why choose the name 'Yashin' or 'Akugo'? Which one is the real name?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm guessing 'Yashin' is his true identity. The crimes he committed were minor and quite old. I'd suspect they may have juvenile activities. He may have rode with a gang of bandits. Their operations crossed into the Land of Water but aren't directly connected to Kirigakure. However, the fact that he stayed around that area early on in his career suggests that he must hail from the Land of Water," Shikamaru said.

"So he has some kind of pull within the village, is that what you're saying?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru nodded, while Sasuke continued to absorb all the information that was being spouted out.

"Exactly. How else would he be able to get Kiri shinobi to work for him and attack you?" Shikamaru rubbed his goatee. "Also, they must fear his power far more than they did the Mizukage's to accept missions from him, especially one as dangerous as attempting to kill Sasuke or his family."

Something clicked in Sasuke's head. Something that had been irritating his brain, scratching and biting away at his conscience. "What if they weren't planning on killing us?" the Uchiha asked. Naruto glanced over to him and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? I think an assassin infiltrating your home is a clear indication that—" Shikamaru said. Sasuke shot the Hokage and the Nara clan head a glance to silence them.

"I know that assassins weren't sent to my home. I just don't think they were sent to kill anyone. If anything, I think they may have just been sent to draw me out," the Uchiha said, pausing to fold his arms. "It isn't a secret to anyone in this world that I can be…coldblooded and ruthless when it comes to those I love. I think they intended to steal Hikari and hold her to draw me out of the village so Yashin could fight me himself."

"He doesn't want to tangle with the combined strength of Konoha, especially not us," Naruto said with a confident grin.

"He might," Sasuke said. He closed his eyes as he measured his next few words. "It seems that this entire time, he's only been targeting people that are close to me or were." The Uchiha opened his eyes. "Suigetsu, Karin, Sosei, my family…he has a grudge against me and perhaps the entire Uchiha clan." Naruto sighed.

"That isn't anything new. It seems like a lot of people have issues with your clan and specifically, you. But, most of those shinobi are bound by the peace laws we established. To pursue you as he is now…" Naruto said.

"He hates me," Sasuke said. "I must've have hurt him directly somehow and now, he wants me dead."

He understood the feeling very well. He knew what hate was. To gain power over a long stretch of time, gain allies to help on the journey, do whatever it took to kill what you hated…Sasuke knew that feeling. Itachi and Danzo had been his targets of his hate in the past. Hate and pain were languages he spoke fluently.

Shikamaru looked towards Naruto. "The ANBU didn't report any sightings of Akugo?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head. "None. Komuji only reported ruins and Setsuka." The Nara clan head sighed.

"Well, if what you say is true, we have a problem," he said. Sasuke nodded. He knew what Shikamaru was getting at. Only Naruto seemed a tiny bit lost.

"What's the problem?" the Hokage asked. Shikamaru blinked.

"The ANBU didn't find him. The assassins, according to Sasuke's theory, were trying to draw him away from the village. Close enough that they could get in and get out quick but far enough away that they could draw Sasuke away. That plan didn't work," Shikamaru said. Sasuke nodded.

"So Yashin's next plan of action will be a full on invasion of Konoha. The village and its people are close to me. I'd defend this place until I died. If Yashin feels as though he knows me, he'll be attacking soon…very soon," Sasuke said, looking towards Naruto.

"What do you want to do?" Naruto asked. Sasuke was taken aback.

"You're Hokage," Sasuke conceded. "What are your orders?" Naruto smirked.

"Place the village on high alert. Make sure that every gate is guarded to full capacity. All missions, whether pending or currently active, abort them immediately. All shinobi need to be present. I need every genin to be with their jonin masters." Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Or in your case, I need your team with me." Sasuke nodded.

"I got it," the Uchiha said. It was understood. If Yashin was to attack, he'd probably gun right for Sasuke and if that battle were to take place, he wouldn't need to be distracted by trying to protect green genin. For some reason, Sasuke felt a tingle up his spine. It felt strange for a moment until Sasuke realized that it was _excitement_.

The rush flowed through his entire body until is very existence tingled. He hadn't felt this way in literal years. Why was the feeling overtaking him now? Was he actually glad to be nearly ready to face Yashin? Or was he just finding relief that this new tormentor now had a face?

Whatever the reason, Sasuke felt a new thrill. He felt alive again.

Naruto dismissed him and Shikamaru and on this rare occasion, Sasuke and the Nara were alone. The walk was awkwardly quiet. Sasuke had barely had any interaction with Shikamaru even while he was still a genin, but now during the long walk down the hall, it seemed like they should talk…it seemed that way.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said. The Uchiha turned his head towards the man to acknowledge him. "Akugo is going to be gunning directly for you. His followers may be with him but he'll most likely want to handle you himself. If that does happen, I think it'd be wise to kill him quickly."

"And why is that?" Sasuke asked, not denying the validity of Shikamaru's statement.

"Because as you stated before, Akugo has a vendetta against you and anyone close to you. I doubt he'd have any qualms against destroying all of Konoha during your fight. The village's safety should be your first priority…" Sasuke turned stared Shikamaru down.

"My _family's_ safety is my first priority," he retorted, before looking ahead again. "I agree, though. I won't hold back." Shikamaru sighed.

"Good." The Nara placed his hands in his pocket. "The last thing we need is for him to use that sword and siphon out your chakra."

"He won't touch me," Sasuke replied. The two men finally parted and the Uchiha headed home. The sun was just starting to rise above the horizon, casting it's orange and purple glow over Konoha. The colors reminded Sasuke of Naruto's Bijuu Cloak and his Susano'o clashing.

Old memories.

When Sasuke got to his home, he heard sounds of exertion coming from his backyard and walked straight around to the back. To his utter shock, he saw Takuma and Sosei locked in a sparring match. Sasuke watched in silence for a moment while his two sons fought back and forth.

Sosei's eyes were bright with the red glow of the Sharingan, blocking each and every one of Takuma's strikes. Sasuke's heir never lost his determination. He continued pressing his attack until finally, Sosei had to strike back. And Takuma dodged.

Sosei smirked at him and threw another punch that Takuma blocked and followed up with one of his own. This time, Sosei grabbed Takuma's arm and tossed him into the dirt. Sosei launched himself towards Takuma and pressed his foot on his back. Takuma panted and looked up at Sosei.

"I'm impressed. You managed to keep up this time, even with my Sharingan active. Still didn't get me, though," Sosei said, smirking. Takuma didn't respond. Sosei kneeled down and looked at his younger brother. With two fingers outstretched, he poked Takuma. "Maybe next time?"

Sasuke was frozen in place. Images of Itachi flooded into his mind. Every single moment he had ever had with his brother came to him in an instant.

A tear.

Sasuke walked forward and wiped his eyes, reestablishing his cool persona as he approached his sons. Sosei was the first to stand and Takuma rose to his feet soon after.

"How long have you two been up?" Sasuke asked. Sosei shrugged.

"About an hour or so. Takuma came out a little later and challenged me to a sparring match," Sosei said. "You saw the results."

"I _had_ you," Takuma said. Sosei smirked.

"Yeah, for a moment, you did. Get yourself a Sharingan and maybe, you'll get me next time." Sasuke couldn't disagree. He had expected Takuma's Sharingan to have developed by now, but for some reason, there hadn't even been a sign. Sasuke had felt swells in the boy's chakra but his Sharingan had never come…

"Well, I'm glad that you two are actually awake," the Uchiha said. "There's some things that I have to tell you…"

"Oh, I'm sure that they'll figure it out soon," a voice said behind Sasuke. The Uchiha whirled around to see the source of this unfamiliar voice and his scowl deepened as he saw who it had come from.

Standing in the middle of the Uchiha Estate lake was a solitary cloaked figure. Sasuke's eyes shifted to the Sharingan to extend his vision and made out the details of the man. His cloak was pitch black and he wore a white and dark blue smiling oni mask. A fire burned in Sasuke's chest as all of his emotions from the past week collided inside of him.

It was Yashin.

"Don't look so surprised, Uchiha," the terrorist called. "You should've known I'd come to you eventually." Sasuke glanced back towards Takuma and Sosei.

"Get in the house and get your mother and siblings. Find Naruto as quickly as possible," Sasuke said. Takuma frowned and Sosei glared forward, his Sharingan eyes burning.

"That's him, isn't it?" he growled. "That **fucker** killed my mother! I'm not leaving!" Sasuke cast his own Sharingan down on his eldest son.

"You will do as I say. Now, go," Sasuke said. Before either of his children could say anything else, Sasuke was across the lake in a flash. The Chidori came to his hand instantly and his eyes easily made out Yashin as he closed in on him.

A sudden kick threw Sasuke off balance and he crashed into the water. The Uchiha recovered quickly and stared up towards Yashin. He was no longer alone. In fact, he was surrounded by an army.

At least one hundred cloaked Kiri shinobi stood with Yashin, each with a different oni mask. The one that Sasuke had presumed to kick him stepped back as Yashin stepped forward. Sasuke's eye darted back and forth as he readied himself to be swarmed by the shinobi.

"You needn't worry, Uchiha," Yashin chuckled. "Our battle will be one on one. But, I haven't just come to kill you." The terrorist raised his arms. "All of Konoha will fall, because of you."

Sasuke watched as every single shinobi behind Yashin began to perform hand seals. Sasuke recognized the seals in an instant.

" _Kirigakure no Jutsu_!" the shinobi shouted in unison. Sasuke's lake began to swirl and spread out above him.

A thick cloud of fog stretched out over Sasuke's home and enclosed the entire village. After it had, the fog dropped and filled the air. Sasuke remained calm although his vision was almost completely cut off. The Sharingan would do nothing to assist his visibility here. Not even his Rinnegan would help. For the first time in years, he was a blind as the average man.

Sasuke saw Yashin walk through the fog, alone. In his left hand, he wielded the black bladed sword he had used to kill the Mizukage and Suigetsu. With his right, he lifted his hood and removed the oni mask from his face and dropped it in the water.

He was a young man with spiky black and dark grey eyes. His face carried no emotion, just a pain pounded into the core of his being. He didn't look too dissimilar to Sasuke at all. The Uchiha wondered if this was how he had appeared to everyone that he had sought to kill, a hate-filled youth with power to match.

The two stood in the fog, silent for what seemed to stretch for hours though Sasuke knew they had only been there for seconds. Sasuke's excitement from earlier had faded away, revealing something else within in him. Sobriety. The Uchiha realized as he stared at Yashin that he wouldn't just be killing a brash young terrorist.

He'd be killing his former self.


	9. Ambition

**A/N: Going to give you guys a little insight into my writing process. Whenever I make a new character, I like to listen to a song or instrumental that I think defines them. Well, for Yashin, I have two, each for his individual identities. And they are...**

**"A Little Push" x Hans Zimmer (Akugo)**

**"Shadows" x Woodkid (Yashin)**

**If you listen to these songs and read the story you may understand how I felt lol. Also, the fight has a theme as well.**

**"The Deer" x Woodkid. I recommend listening to it as you read this chapter in particular. Maybe throw in "Shadows" too.**

**Anyway, enough of that. Let's descend into madness**

* * *

 

Sasuke stared across the emptied lake at Yashin, his Sharingan eyes struggling to pierce through the mist. Damned Kiri shinobi and their tricks. Only the Byakugan could find its way through this jutsu, however with a Hidden Mist jutsu created simultaneously by a hundred shinobi, Sasuke had his doubts. Yashin must have calculated that as well. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. How far did this plan stretch?

In an instant, Yashin burst through the mist, leaving a massive hole behind him as he made his way towards Sasuke. The Uchiha patted his side, but found himself without his sword or any weapons whatsoever. Yashin brought the black-bladed katana into both of his hands and started his swing. Sasuke saw through it with his Sharingan and leapt away at the last moment as Yashin came down.

Before Sasuke could react, Yashin disappeared back into the mist. Sasuke paused in place and listened. In the distance, he thought he heard the sound of battle occurring in the village. Yashin's army must've came into contact with some of Konoha's finest. Sasuke was sure Naruto could handle them all himself. He needed to stay focused on the task at hand. If he didn't have a weapon, Sasuke would have to make his own.

The Chidori sparked in his left hand and Sasuke molded the chakra into a sword. The chakra stabilized into a long bluish-white, streamlined blade and Sasuke held it down to his side and waited. Yashin wouldn't attack him from the front again. The Hidden in the Mist jutsu was an assassin's trick and assassins generally didn't attack their targets from the front, especially not twice. Besides that, Sasuke literally wouldn't see an attack coming from behind. Yashin would have to capitalize on that one shortcoming of his eyes.

Or that was what Sasuke thought.

To the Uchiha's surprise, Yashin flashed in front of him. Jinsei-gui twirled in his hand and came directly for Sasuke's neck. The Uchiha brought the Chidori Spear up to guard. Lightning sparked from the collision and Sasuke pushed back against Yashin's attempts to behead him.

"You're fast," Yashin said. "And resourceful. No sword with you so you construct one out of lightning chakra." He didn't smirk, though his words were laughingly haughty. "However, that won't work." Sasuke's eyes widened as the young man's sword began to glow blue. The Chidori Spear left Sasuke's hand and disappeared into Yashin's blade that now sparked with lightning. Sasuke darted backwards, dissipating in a black flash before Yashin could swing his blade.

So that was it. Not only could this Jinsei-gui siphon the life out of a person if it pierced them, it could also absorb a chakra element attack. It looked like it also took the form of that chakra's nature as well from the sparks flying from the sword. 'How many natures?' was Sasuke's next question and he was determined to find out the answer.

Yashin ran forward again and Sasuke readied himself. Before Yashin got too close, he plunged his sword into the ground. Lightning spread out towards Sasuke and he leapt to his side to avoid the electrical barrage. When the Uchiha looked up, Yashin was gone. When he looked to his right, several needles flew towards him. Sasuke avoided them by ducking underneath. Yashin barreled down towards him, slicing through the mist as he descended towards the Uchiha. Sasuke darted away from the upheaval of mud and took in a quick breath.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" A massive fireball burst from Sasuke's mouth towards Yashin's landing point. Just as soon as it had approached the Uchiha's opponent, it disappeared. Yashin held out the shaking blade as the fiery chakra swirled around it. The information flowed through Sasuke's mind. Yashin's sword could absorb fire nature as well. Next question…could the sword contain more than one nature at the same time and if it could, what would happen?

Before Sasuke could generate a lightning attack, Yashin swung his sword towards him. A surge of flames scorched the earth as it approached the Uchiha and Sasuke flipped over them. His eyes flicked up and narrowed. Yashin's sudden attacks were ruining his method of combat analyzation. Sasuke had immense chakra reserves and he could afford to meticulously experiment with attacks until he pinpointed his opponent's weakness. Yashin was proving slightly difficult to put together.

Sasuke knew that being pierced by Yashin's blade would result in near instant death for him. The life siphoning abilities of the sword had proven enough to kill both the Mizukage and Suigetsu. He knew that Yashin's blade could absorb chakra so launching endless attacks would only be a waste of power. He also knew that the sword could absorb two chakra natures, though Sasuke had gone on to presume that it could also absorb the other three. However, Yashin was attacking before Sasuke could discover whether or not the sword could contain two natures at once.

Sasuke Uchiha felt an inward jolt.

If Yashin wasn't waiting to take in all of Sasuke's chakra natures, then that meant that either the sword couldn't contain two natures or Yashin himself couldn't handle both natures within the sword. He seemed to be barely able to handle the sword when it was holding the fireball Sasuke had launched at him. Yashin had answered Sasuke's question for him.

Sasuke had two options that he thought over as he continued to evade Yashin's sword swings. One, he could continue to press his attack until he managed to overload Yashin by sheer quantity. Or, he could pick one attack that he knew for an absolute certainty would throw Yashin off his game. The first option would be a waste of time and chakra. Not only was his village threatened by the presence of Yashin's army, but his children were as well. Yashin's death would need to come from a precise strike.

Sasuke needed his sword.

Sasuke put distance between him and Yashin then glanced around trying to get his bearings. He had no idea where he was in association to his house. The mist wasn't helping nor was his Sharingan. Sasuke had only one other dojutsu to rely on. His left eye shifted into the Rinnegan and Sasuke searched around quickly. His visibility wasn't much better but he could faintly make out the shadowy outline of his house and it wasn't too far off. He could make it.

Sasuke turned to Yashin and saw that the young man had disappeared once again. When Sasuke turned back to where his house was, he saw Yashin standing in between them. Of course he knew exactly where everything was located around them, though Sasuke wasn't sure that Yashin knew of his intentions. He doubted that he did. Yashin narrowed his eyes.

"Concerned about your children? Your village?" Yashin asked. Sasuke was silent. He had to come up with a distraction to get past Yashin. Perhaps, a war of words.

"I am," Sasuke said. This seemed to anger Yashin.

"A shame. Where was all this love and care seventeen years ago?" Yashin demanded. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Seventeen years ago?" the images of his past came into his mind. A barrage of violence, blood, then eventual triumph and redemption.

"Yes," Yashin scowled. "The year my parents were killed." Sasuke blinked as Yashin continued to speak. "When I was a boy, I'd spend the summer with my father in the Land of Iron. He was a samurai and served as a guard for Mifune, the samurai lord. One day, my father was assigned to guard the place where his lord would serve as a proctor between the five Great Shinobi Nations. This day would become known as the Five Kage Summit.

The meeting was going well, save for the Sixth Hokage Candidate attempting to manipulate himself into control of the Shinobi Alliance army. However, the building was then infiltrated by a certain internationally wanted criminal. His name was Sasuke Uchiha." Yashin's body shook and his grip on the black blade tightened.

Sasuke could see where the story was going.

"During your rampage, you slaughtered scores of samurai that guarded the building. One of them was my father. My mother decided to try and take vengeance against you and fought with the Fourth Division in the Shinobi Alliance. Things went well until…Madara Uchiha was resurrected from the dead. His assault decimated nearly the entire division and he took my mother from me. Within a month, I lost both of my parents to Uchiha. I was seven," Yashin growled.

"Vengeance," Sasuke said, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's what you want?"

"I want everything you love to be destroyed the same way you and your ancestor annihilated what I loved. I will see your head roll, Uchiha!" Yashin ran forward and jabbed his sword towards Sasuke's chest. Sasuke moved his body to the right and waited until Yashin's blade passed him before he grabbed the young man's arm and drove his forearm into Yashin's throat.

"Vengeance is empty. It gives you nothing. Once you've gotten revenge against your target, life becomes meaningless. You get sucked into a cycle of hatred that is impossible to escape," Sasuke said. He didn't know why he was talking to this man. A man who had threatened to kill him and his children. A man so filled with hatred towards him that he had spent seventeen years planning out his revenge.

Maybe because it felt like he was trying to talk his younger self off of the path.

"I won't live a meaningless life!" Yashin shouted, pushing Sasuke away. "Once I kill you and destroy what you love, I will have fulfilled my purpose. There will be nothing left for me." Had Sasuke sounded like this seventeen years ago?

The Uchiha stared past Yashin and into his house. He could see inside. His couch sat right within his range. When his eyes went to Yashin again, he saw the young man running towards him with a hateful fire in his eyes. Sasuke waited until Yashin was in mid-swing before he activated his technique.

The _Amenotejikara_  teleported Sasuke into his home and left his couch outside for Yashin to swing at. Once inside, Sasuke darted towards his room and went to the wall where he kept his chokutō and seized it into his hand. The Uchiha turned and saw Yashin in the hallway. When he saw that Sasuke had a sword in his hand, his face looked slightly worried.

Sasuke charged Yashin and in a flurry of sword swings pushed the young man into his living room. To Yashin's credit, his swordsmanship was impressive. Every one of Sasuke's swings was blocked or parried by the man although Yashin was struggling to keep up with Sasuke's speed and ferocity. The Uchiha was still holding back some.

Something within him was keeping him from landing a killing blow.

Yashin's defense was solid, though there were plenty of holes in it that Sasuke's eyes saw. The young man's footwork was quick, but he often didn't plant himself enough to keep himself standing if Sasuke were to land a strong blow. Yashin was skilled enough. But he was not on Sasuke's tier.

But something held him back from dealing the death blow.

Was it guilt? Did the Uchiha actually feel sorry for putting this young man on the path of hatred? Did he regret even challenging Yashin to battle? Should he let this man have his revenge and take his life?

No. Not at the cost of Sakura's life. Not at the cost of Kichiro's life. Not at the cost of Hikari's life. Not at the cost of Takuma's life. Not at the cost of Sosei's life. Nor at the cost of his village. If it was to be between their lives or Yashin's, Sasuke would have to do what he was born to do. Death would have to come to Yashin. Sasuke raised his sword and coated it in lightning. Yashin met Sasuke's chokutō with his black blade.

The young man absorbed the chakra into his sword and grit his teeth. Sasuke took in a deep breath as he prepared to breathe fire into Yashin's face. It was a bluff and Yashin took the bait and disengaged, backing out of the living room and into the fog. Sasuke held back his jutsu until Yashin was far away from his house. This new jutsu would make Sakura even more angry about the yard.

" _Katon: Kōdai Nanba_!" Sasuke shouted. A stream of fire poured from Sasuke's mouth before expanding into a wide rolling wave of fire. The heat from the fire burnt through the grass and trees then burst into smoke. But it didn't get sucked away by Yashin's sword. After the smoke cleared, Sasuke could make out Yashin's figure struggling to get to his feet.

This was it.

Sasuke hastened to Yashin's crouched body. His sword was tight in his hand and his grip was assured. He was prepared to do what was necessary now. But Yashin wasn't at all ready to die. Sasuke didn't see that Yashin had lost an arm. He didn't make out the symbols on the detached arm forming until he was too close. And he barely had time to react.

"For Yashin," the young terrorist said as he tossed his arm into Sasuke's face. The Uchiha's eyes widened as the explosion went off and blew him backwards until he landed in front of his house. The quick manifestation of Susano'o's rib cage had shattered on Sasuke's right side and his entire left side was numb. His left arm was broken and scorched, he was sure of that much. He couldn't feel anything from the shoulder down. For now, he and Yashin were on even ground.

That damn explosive tag seal. Yashin could generate the seal on his followers and on his own body. Sasuke had never seen a technique like this before. A suicide bomber. The closest he had gotten to this was Deidara. That blonde shinobi had also had a particular hatred for the Uchiha, specifically their Sharingan and he had committed explosive suicide trying to kill Sasuke. Even now, he couldn't believe he had escaped that.

Sasuke grabbed up his chokutō with his right arm and stood to his feet. The explosion might've have drawn the attention of someone out in the village fighting. Maybe Sakura would be on her way. The Uchiha said a silent prayer that she would.

Wielding his sword with his right arm was more natural for him, though he had grown to use his left over the years. Being ambidextrous had its advantages. Sasuke wasn't too handicapped, though now, he'd wouldn't be able to use Chidori and his blade simultaneously. Nevertheless, the Uchiha pressed forward through the mist. Yashin was somewhere in the moist expanse, possibly assembling a new strategy. With his arm gone, Sasuke wondered how he'd adapt. It was no matter. The Uchiha would still be stronger.

Sasuke took in several deep breaths and tried to keep calm. His left leg felt like ants were running up and down it. Putting weight on it felt strange and walking was especially troublesome. Blood dripped from his left arm and his side. How much had he lost?

"Still alive, huh?" Yashin's voice crept through the mist. Sasuke's eyes searched for the source but found nothing. "Fucking resilient." Yashin's voice sounded pained and agitated. He was using the mist for cover but it looked as if that mist was beginning to fade. Yashin's army was getting beaten quickly.

"Your army's dying," Sasuke said as the mist began to subside. "You're finished as well."

"No, not at all, Uchiha. Not until you're dead." Sasuke closed his eyes. He was finished with the games.

Susano'o manifested in its full-bodied form, growling as its ghastly glow spread around Sasuke. The black flamed weapons formed by Kagutsuchi manifested in Susano'o's hand. A sword stretched forth and Sasuke sliced through the mist. He saw Yashin appear. The one-armed man didn't look to be scared or anywhere close to terrified. In fact, he had a smile on his face.

Yashin darted forward and Sasuke shot a black flame arrow towards him. The young man weaved around it and leapt into the air. Sasuke fired another arrow and Yashin's body rolled in mid-air away from it. He was close now with Jinsei-gui in hand. The sword clashed against Susano'o and it didn't break through. Sasuke had expected that. What he hadn't expected was what came next.

Yashin's blade ripped two layers of Susano'o's chakra away from Sasuke, leaving him with only a skeletal form to defend himself with. Sasuke's eyes expanded and Yashin's smile stretched across his face.

"I was waiting for you to do that. It was about time that you brought out your ultimate defense, Susano'o," Yashin chuckled. "Would've thought you'd use it sooner." Jinsei-gui shook as the purple chakra swirled around it. Yashin was maintaining his hold on it though. Sasuke frowned.

"Why?" he asked. Yashin swirled his sword.

"By now, I'm sure you figured out that Jinsei-gui absorbs both life force and chakra. I could also absorb elemental chakra and use that nature against you. However, I couldn't hold in two at a time. A theory I noticed you tested out with your lightning and fire combination. I wasn't going to be forced into a corner so I simply answered that question for you. I knew that once you knew I could absorb chakra natures, you'd use something that had no defined chakra nature. Something you had absolute confidence in," the young man said.

Sasuke nodded. It was all a power play. "So your plan was to push me until I'd bring out my Susano'o," he said, staring down Yashin. "But to what end? Are you planning on launching a Susano'o based attack on me?" Yashin chuckled.

"Oh, no. Nothing so droll. Not for the death of Sasuke Uchiha," Yashin said as he pointed the tip of his blade at his chest. Sasuke watched as Yashin did the unthinkable. He stabbed himself. The young man coughed up blood and dropped to one knee, gasping for life. Through all of this, he maintained his grin.

Then it happened.

The purple chakra of Sasuke's Susano'o covered Yashin's body. The bird-like helm that Sasuke's stabilized Susano'o manifested formed around Yashin's head. Purple armored wings sprouted from the young man's back and he slowly pulled Jinsei-gui from his chest. The wound sizzled, but Yashin didn't seem to be in any pain. In fact, it looked as if his wound was healing. Was it from all the life force and chakra he had absorbed into the sword?

The Pseudo-Susano'o chakra cloak looked impressive. But how strong was it? Sasuke scowled with determination and rushed towards Yashin. The one-armed man stood still and Sasuke swung his sword into him. There was a clank as if the chokutō had come into contact with armor and the Uchiha bounced away.

Yashin bore his teeth. "Oh come now, you knew that wouldn't work, Uchiha!" Yashin stretched forth his arm, shooting out several chakra senbon. Sasuke blocked with his sword and bounded towards Yashin.

Once again, the Grand Fireball burst from his mouth. The attack collided with the Pseudo-Susano'o cloak and Yashin withstood it with a smile. This trickery was as strong as Sasuke's Susano'o had been when he initially activated the ability. It would take more than physical attacks and C-rank fire techniques to pierce through it. And with his left side below his neck completely without feeling and his left arm broken, he had only a few attacks left to use.

He'd just have to use his eyes.

" **Amaterasu** ," Sasuke said. The black flames burst toward Yashin and surrounded his Susano'o cloak. To Sasuke's surprise, the fire didn't deter the young man. He actually began to walk through. Sasuke dipped his head. " ** _Enton: Kagutsuchi_**." The black flame grabbed hold of Yashin's lower body. The young man stared down as his eyes widened. Sasuke wrapped Yashin's entire cloak in ebon fire and the man was engulfed. The Uchiha did his best to constrict the man's movement's. He was determined to bury him in black fire.

"NO!" Yashin screamed. The black flames were eaten up by Jinsei-gui but Yashin's Pseudo-Susano'o cloak appeared to be melting. So, Sasuke had overestimated it's strength. Without a Mangekyo Sharingan to constantly feed Susano'o chakra properly, this fake cloak had faltered under pressure. However, it had taken more chakra than Sasuke had wanted to figure this out. His body shook now from exertion. He hadn't been pushed this far in a decade. "Dammit!" Yashin shouted. "It's gone…" he glared towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha panted softly and held his hand up to his right eye. Forcing Amaterasu to contort and form had strained and stretched his ocular muscles. His head and eye throbbed. His brain felt like it was rattling against the inside of his skull. Yashin grinned.

"Looks like that fire display took more out of you than it hurt me," he said. "I still have your black flames in my sword. And I'll…"

"You won't do anything," a voice said behind Yashin. Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. No way in hell. As Yashin turned, he caught a glimpse of his worst fears being realized. It was Sosei, covered in blood, dirt and a few scratches. And he was alone.

Yashin chuckled and turned towards Sasuke. "This one of yours? He damn sure looks like it." Sasuke frowned. Where the hell was Naruto? Why hadn't anyone attempted to stop his brash, arrogant child from rushing onto a battlefield he wasn't prepared to be on? Damn it.

Sasuke stepped forward but the pounding of his head and eye dropped him to his knees. He couldn't move. Sasuke shook as Yashin smirked and walked towards him before he was stopped by Sosei. A powerful kick from the Uchiha child caused Yashin to turn around and catch him by his ankle and throw him to the side. Sosei had the agility of a feline and landed on his feet and immediately rushed forward.

Yashin batted Sosei to the ground but Sasuke's eldest jumped to his feet again and drew a kunai.

"I'm not playing around," Sosei said. Yashin chuckled.

"And neither am I." Yashin pointed to himself. "Do you have any idea who I am?" Sosei scowled.

"A dickless coward who sends assassins to kidnap children and kill women," the boy replied quickly. Yashin laughed and hoisted his sword over his shoulder.

"Oh am I? And what of your father? Do you know how many lives he destroyed when he was only a few years older than you? How many children he made orphans and how many wives he made widows?" Yashin asked.

"No," Sosei replied. "But at least whatever wrong he did, my father never hid like a bitch in the shadows. He's way more of a man than you'll ever be." Yashin grinned.

"Poor boy…you've strung together the wrong sequence of words," he said. His grin then turned on its head. "You Uchiha are all the same. Arrogant, pompous and bloodthirsty. A peaceful world has no use for barbaric killers like you. I've taken it upon myself to purge you all." The one-armed man turned to Sasuke. "I was going to begin with you," he said, turning back to Sosei. "But this brat's mouth has earned him a spot as my initial sacrifice."

Yashin was in front of Sosei in an instant. The young boy's Sharingan was growing stronger but even that didn't prepare him for Yashin's attack. Yashin kicked Sosei across the yard and into the emptied lake. Sosei rolled in the mud and crashed into a rock. Sasuke pushed himself to follow the fight.

Sosei got to his feet and Yashin was before him again. His sword moved in wide, black arches and seemed to teleport in between his hands as fast as he swung. Sosei was moving as fast as Sasuke expected him to and did a good job avoiding Yashin's blows though Sasuke knew that the man was only toying with his son. Sasuke forced himself to regain strength. He would not sit and watch his son fight an opponent like this.

Yashin was sadistic. He'd toy with Sosei until he grew tired of the game and killed him in front of Sasuke. Whatever he planned to do after that was a mystery, but Sasuke had no intention to see. The young man was fast and it was only a matter of time before he caught Sosei. But Sasuke knew one thing for sure. Yashin wasn't faster than 1/1000th of a second.

All of Sasuke's fire jutsu from his fire balls to his latest Amaterasu barrage had changed the atmosphere. Thunderous clouds had begun to roll as a result of the heat Sasuke had generated to this point. It had been an unintentional and unplanned consequence of his actions. But it would definitely work in Sasuke's favor.

The Uchiha hadn't practiced the jutsu in quite some time but he didn't need a massive bolt of lightning to strike down near his home. He just needed a focused, pinpointed blast that would immobilize Yashin. Sosei was providing enough of a distraction that Yashin didn't notice when Sasuke raised his right arm and thunder crashed in the sky. Sasuke's eyes went to the sky as he attempted to control the lightning above him. He found a small bolt, enough to accomplish what he needed done. He just needed to hit Yashin with it.

With all the strength he had left, Sasuke ran toward Yashin and Sosei. Sasuke's eldest son had been backed into a corner and Yashin looked to be growing impatient with the boy. Before his blade could find Sosei's flesh, Sasuke leapt into the fray and grabbed Sosei in his arms. The boy struggled briefly but Sasuke's grip was tight. Yashin frowned and raised his sword to strike Sasuke again. Sasuke's Rinnegan eye found the lightning bolt.

" _Amenotejikara: Kirin,_ " Sasuke whispered. His raised hand brought the lightning bolt down from above and Sasuke's Rinnegan ability shifted their positions causing Sasuke and Sosei to flash into the air and the lightning bolt to crash down next to Yashin. It was pure lightning, not enhanced by any chakra. Yashin's blade couldn't absorb nature.

There was a white flash followed by a stream of rain falling from the sky. Sasuke used his chakra to cushion his landing and let Sosei down out of his arms. The young boy looked around as the rain calmed the fires that raged in the Uchiha estate backyard. He then looked up at Sasuke, staring into his Rinnegan eye. The elder Uchiha looked down at his son.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked. Sosei shrugged.

"Yeah," he replied. Sasuke's eyes didn't leave Sosei.

"That was extremely stupid and dangerous what you did. I told you to find Naruto."

"And I did," Sosei replied. "You never said to stay with him." Sasuke shook his head and looked towards the emptied lake. He could still sense Yashin's chakra but it was weak and didn't move at all. The attack had worked.

Sasuke walked forward and Sosei followed him. The Uchiha didn't rebuke him. He was sure that he'd probably want to bear witness to what Sasuke intended to do now. The two Uchiha reached the bank and looked down. Just as Sasuke had suspected, Yashin laid in the middle of the muddy pit, with lightning crackling around him. The rain washed the blood away from his body. His chest rose slowly as he breathed.

Sasuke moved down next to his body and looked down at him. Yashin's eyes slowly met Sasuke's gaze. His revenge had failed. Sasuke could only begin to imagine how Yashin felt now. Even after all of his training and preparations, he hadn't been able to accomplish his perceived purpose in life. Sasuke had felt that before. It had happened the first time he had tried to fight Itachi when he returned to Konoha only to have his wrist broken and his mind probed, the massacre of his parents playing over and over. Yashin's pain was relatable. And Sasuke had been the cause.

"I set you on this path," Sasuke said. "Towards this destination. For that…I am sorry." Yashin narrowed his eyes and looked back up into the sky.

"Your apologies don't mean anything to me," he said weakly. Sasuke nodded.

"I didn't expect forgiveness nor did I wish for it. This isn't for you. It's for me." Sasuke looked at Sosei and then at Yashin again. "This entire time, I could've found a way to kill you. I could've struck you down. I could've made that lightning bolt powerful enough to erase this entire portion of the village yet I didn't." Yashin frowned.

"Why? If you were so powerful, why didn't you just finish this?" he asked. Sasuke sighed.

"Guilt," he said. "Knowing that because of my own hate, I continued the cycle that I now wish to end. I couldn't find the heart to kill you." Sosei looked up at him and frowned, while Yashin's face was blank.

"You couldn't find it in your heart to kill me?" he repeated. Sasuke nodded.

"No," Sasuke said before casting his eyes out over the village. Rain was pouring down on his home, the graying skies hiding the sun. The village was quiet. Yashin's army was done. Sasuke looked down at the man. "If you would've fought Naruto instead of me, he would've felt the same way. In the end, he would've tried to talk you into submission and make you see the error of your ways. Despite all that you've done, Naruto would've forgiven you and perhaps even saw to it that you were given a proper trial for your crimes and imprisoned."

Sasuke knew that too well. Naruto had done the same thing to him so many times, he had lost count. He had talked many of his opponents into seeing how wrong they were and made them allies, despite their strong philosophies. It was Naruto's special skill.

But not Sasuke's.

"However, I am not the Hokage," Sasuke said as his Sharingan flashed down on Yashin. "You killed people I cared about, you invaded my home and you made the ultimate mistake of threatening to do harm to my family." Sasuke held his sword over Yashin's neck. "I am not the god of shinobi that forgives." He raised his sword. " ** _I am the god that executes_**." Yashin's eyes seemed to close in acceptance of his fate and Sasuke's sword descended down on the man's neck.

Blood spurted out onto the mud as Yashin's head rolled away from his body. Sasuke shook his chokutō free of blood and turned to Sosei. For once, the cold anger normally present on Sosei's face was gone. Instead, there was a sort of relief there. The boy walked forward, grabbed Sasuke, and buried his face into his father's chest. Sasuke could feel Sosei's warm tears on his chest and the Uchiha patted his son's back. It was over, now.

Sasuke's eyes looked down at Yashin's decapitated head. His face was at rest, as if all he had ever wanted had been achieved. He had accepted his fate but his face seemed to speak about more than that. There was odd expression there. Not just acceptance. But release. Maybe, he hadn't wanted vengeance. Maybe, Yashin's ambition this entire time had seeking been freedom from his pain. He had gone about his search the wrong way, but he sought what Sasuke had once sought when he was lost in a cloud of darkness and pain. Not a light to guide him out. Not even the deaths of his enemies. All he had wished for was…

_Peace._


	10. Resolution

"Sensei!" Sasuke saw the three members of his Genin team rushing towards him. He and Sosei had started to walk back to the village after Sasuke had properly set fire to Yashin's body. Making the trip was difficult since his left side hadn't yet recovered from the explosion however, Sosei had supported him. Honami's red hair dropped to her shoulders as she stopped in front of the two Uchiha. Her pale eyes looked over Sasuke with worry.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-sensei?" she asked. Shōgo gulped.

"What happened?" he asked. Sasuke shrugged with his right shoulder.

"I fought the orchestrator of this invasion," Sasuke answered. Takuma stood silent, staring at Sasuke and then at Sosei with narrowed eyes. Shōgo continued to talk.

"Must've been really strong to hurt you, huh?" he said. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah," he looked down at Takuma and scanned his son. Sasuke's heir was covered in blood and dirt, though he didn't seem to have any injuries of his own. Sasuke then looked up and around Konoha. Everything seemed to be okay, besides a few buildings that looked like their sides had been blown apart. What had happened while he was fighting Yashin?

Takuma shook his head at Sosei and then eyed his father. "I told him to stay," Takuma said to Sasuke. Sosei twisted his face.

"And I told you that father would need our help after we heard that explosion near our house. Which he did," Sosei retorted. Takuma shook his head and started to ball up his fist until Honami traced her fingers down his forearm. Takuma looked over at her and then looked away. They were still squabbling. Sasuke didn't know why he had expected that to change.

"What happened down on this end?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, some of the Inuzuka clan and their dogs could sense that something was up and as soon as the mist went up, we all assumed battle stations. Takuma came and grabbed us. After that, we went to find Naruto," Shōgo said. Honami nodded.

"Shinobi started attacking from the mist. Only a few of them did any damage. My Byakugan could see through the its and I told Shōgo and Takuma where they were and we were able to hold them off for a little bit using some of the strategies Shōgo made up," Honami looked at Takuma and the young Uchiha looked behind him at the destroyed building.

"Some stronger shinobi came and really started to give us trouble but Lord Hokage appeared. I think it may have been a clone but the very sight of him caused the invaders to attempt to kill themselves by explosion. One of them did and managed to get that building but Naruto hit the others with very fast attacks." Honami nodded excitedly.

"The Rasengan," she said. Sasuke had suspected that. Naruto had virtually four techniques that he relied on: Shadow Clones, Rasengan, Summoning Techniques and Bijuu transformations. Sasuke knew from experience how powerful all of those techniques could be if used effectively.

Sasuke looked over his students with a careful eye. They all looked to be relatively fine with maybe a few scratches between them. They appeared to have fared rather well in this situation before they got into a situation where they were outclassed. He had trained them well the past week but this entire situation with Yashin and Sosei had claimed his attention and kept him away from his jonin instructor responsibilities. He would not let that happen again.

"I'm glad you three are alright," Sasuke said.

"We are too, sensei!" Shōgo smiled, balling up his fist. "Don't what I'd do if you would've gotten killed." The bright boy lowered his head. Takuma looked over to Shōgo and then up to Sasuke.

"Seconded," he said. Sasuke nodded and felt his mouth curve in a slight smile. He was beginning to see how Kakashi had felt about Team 7…

"Where's your mother?" Sasuke asked, images of his wife flashing in his mind. Takuma pointed further into the village.

"I think she went with Lord Hokage to check on the wounded. A lot of shinobi and civilians got caught in the explosions. I saw some of the Healing Corps being sent out," Takuma said. Sasuke nodded and looked at his team.

"Alright. I want the three of you to go out and help out in any way that you can," Sasuke said. "I'm going to go meet up with Sakura and Naruto." Team Sasuke all dipped their heads and went off to follow Sasuke's orders. Sosei looked up at his father and watched him.

"Do you need me to help you walk?" Sosei asked. Sasuke glanced down and then began to walk forward. His leg was dragging slightly behind and his arm hung limply at his side, but he could make it to where he needed to go.

"No," Sasuke replied. "Go help." Sosei looked at his father and then leapt away. Sasuke sighed and hoped that Sosei would actually listen for once and do what he said. He couldn't exactly concern himself with that. He needed to be healed.

Sasuke walked forward and looked around at all the destruction that had been caused by Yashin's army. Shinobi were all around, helping to clear away debris and pull civilians out from under fallen pieces of rock and wood. A few fires were put out with Suiton techniques and Sasuke saw a few Konohamaru clones running trying to assist in any way they could.

All of this destruction because of him and his past.

It could've been worse. Had Sasuke just given up, Yashin would've gone on to attempt to lay waste to the entire village, but Naruto would never have let that happen. Hell, if Yashin had killed Sasuke, Naruto may not have even let the terrorist live. Still, the entire situation still stung. Or maybe it was just his physical pain that was making him feel so horrible. One of the Konohamaru clones leapt down in front of Sasuke and quickly looked him over.

"You look bad. Do you need some help?" he asked. Sasuke stared up at him stubbornly until he realized that he had no idea where Naruto and Sakura were.

"Where is Sakura? And Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his voice sounding surprisingly weak to his ears. Konohamaru's clone heard it too and the young Sarutobi pointed further towards the center of the village. Sasuke squinted. It would be a long way to go.

"Let me take you to them," Konohamaru's clone said. He offered Sasuke his hand and the Uchiha stared at it and then at the clone.

"I'll be fine on my own," Sasuke responded. Konohamaru's clone scoffed.

"Don't be so stubborn, Sasuke. You're bleeding out all over the street. I'm taking you to Sakura." The clone grabbed Sasuke and the Uchiha didn't fight, though he wanted to. This guy…it was almost exactly like arguing with Naruto.

Konohamaru's clone utilized the Body Flicker and carried himself and Sasuke through the village until they reached their destination in the center. True to the young Sarutobi's word, Naruto and Sakura were in the midst of the village. Naruto was busy talking with several ANBU Black Ops. Sasuke identified Komuji by his silver hair. When the Hokage saw Sasuke, his eyes widened. His head whipped to Sakura and the kunoichi looked up. Her green eyes met Sasuke's.

The Uchiha felt weak.

Sasuke fell forward into Naruto's arms and the Uchiha's best friend looked down at him and then to Sakura. Sasuke felt numb and limp. What was happening to him? Had he really exerted himself that much? Has he lost that much blood? Had Yashin poisoned his chakra somehow?

Naruto laid Sasuke on the ground and Sakura lifted his head and put it on her lap. Her hands lit up with green chakra and came down to his chest. When Sasuke looked down, he finally saw what the damage was. Underneath his ribs, his insides had been exposed. His shirt had done well enough at covering it so that his students hadn't seen the full extent of his injuries but now Sasuke could see what had happened.

Thankfully, Sakura was one of the greatest medics to ever grace the Earth and her healing hands closed Sasuke's wound quickly.

"Don't move," Sakura cooed. Sasuke looked up at his wife.

"I won't." Naruto folded his arms as he watched them with a smile. However, his face leveled out to be more serious as he began to speak.

"What happened up there?" he asked. "I heard the explosion but I couldn't make my way to you. Yashin's group heard it too and they were ready to set off their own. I took care of most of them before they could though." Sasuke nodded.

"Flying Raijin, eh?" the Uchiha presumed. Naruto grinned and twirled one of the special kunai his father, the Fourth Hokage had left him.

"Yeah, but back to you," Naruto said. "What the hell happened up there?" Sasuke blinked and sighed.

"All of this was my fault." Sakura's eyes looked softly into Sasuke's. The Uchiha continued speaking. "I started it at the Five Kage Summit. I killed Yashin's father when I slaughtered the samurai before I fought the Kages. Kabuto reincarnated Madara Uchiha and he killed Yashin's mother." Naruto nodded.

"And nearly the entire Fourth Division. I remember. He used his Rinnegan and Susano'o to summon two meteors." Sasuke had heard the stories. Part of him wished that his own eyes had bore witness to that power. "So he chose to take revenge against you, is that it?" Naruto asked.

"Not entirely," Sasuke said. "He didn't just want revenge against me and my family. He wanted to kill everyone that I had ever considered myself close to. He killed Suigetsu and Karin, though I have no idea where Jugo is. He also killed the Mizukage and leveled the Mist Village just because she stood against him." Sakura rubbed her hands down Sasuke's cheeks. The motion was soothing and relieved the Uchiha, though he was sure that Sakura meant to look for anymore wounds on his person.

Naruto rubbed his chin. "So, how on earth was he able to get all these Kiri shinobi to follow him into battle? Yashin killed Mei and destroyed their home." Sasuke nodded.

"Exactly," the Uchiha said. "It was either out of fear or he had contacts within the village that guaranteed that they'd follow him. Mei's push to end the days of the 'Bloody Mist' may have upset the older generations. Not everyone is pleased with the peace that we've sought to establish."

"So they probably thought that Yashin would take over as Mizukage," Sakura said. The chakra on her hands faded and she gently moved Sasuke's bangs from his face.

"Perhaps," Sasuke said. "But political power was never his ambition. All he wanted was revenge against me. So, fighting him was…" Naruto nodded.

"It was like fighting your old self, wasn't it?" the blonde Hokage asked. Sasuke's friend had read him once again.

"Yeah. The entire time, I had flashbacks to when my mind was consumed with revenge and hatred. How much I wanted to kill Itachi, then the Konoha Elders, then you, Naruto." The Uchiha closed his eyes. "It was difficult to think about killing him, if only briefly." Sasuke opened his eyes. "But I have things that I want to protect."

"So, you killed him…" Naruto said. His tone was middling and Sasuke couldn't tell how he felt one way or the other about it.

"I did," Sasuke replied. The Hokage nodded.

"Alright," he said. Naruto sighed. "I'm going to have to speak with Shikamaru. The other Kage need to know what happened here." Sasuke shifted his eyes. The three remaining Kage weren't friends to him. All of them had reasons to suspect that Naruto was only covering for his best friend again.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sasuke asked.

"No one will begrudge you for killing an enemy in defense of your family and village. At least, I won't let them," Naruto said with his normal determined scowl. Sasuke shook his head and chuckled.

"I guess if they do try, you'll beat some sense into them, huh?" Sakura laughed and Naruto smirked and rubbed his head.

"Wow, the great Sasuke Uchiha is making jokes now?" Sasuke shrugged.

"It must be the pain," the Uchiha said with a smirk.

Sasuke and Sakura parted with Naruto as the Hokage went about the business of organizing the rebuilding effort in Konoha. The husband and wife searched the village for their children. Takuma worked with Honami in assisting Udon in clearing rubble away from the Academy building. To Sasuke's surprise, Kichiro and Sosei were together, looking for more people to help. Hikari cried when she saw that Sasuke still had a bit of a limp, though when she got into her father's arms, she calmed down. The family headed back to the outskirts of the village to their home. Sasuke, Takuma and Sosei went to the empty lake, where Yashin's body laid. The black flames of Amaterasu wrapped itself around the man's corpse. It was the most appropriate send off that Sasuke could give him.

Weeks passed by and the damage done to Konoha had been fixed and cleared away. Naruto set up a meeting with the three remaining Kage, though the exact details of the meeting had escaped Sasuke's ears. Naruto had, however, insisted that Sasuke instead focus on his family and his recovery. Sasuke agreed to this. Though Sakura had mostly healed his wounds, Sasuke hadn't let her heal everything. Some wounds he wanted to stay as a reminder. Thus, his training sessions with his team and his own children had been limited though he had allowed for them to have supervised sparring matches, something he carried over from his own sons.

On one afternoon, Sasuke decided to take his entire family to the Spot. The Uchiha family passed through the forested path that led to the open clearing. The boys immediately went out into the center, fanning out into a circle as they looked at each other. Sasuke folded his arms and glanced over to Sakura. Their daughter smiled up at Sasuke and the Uchiha tickled her under her chin as he turned back towards the field in front of them to observe his sons. Kichiro's smile was wide and he shook with excitement, while Takuma was calm with a quiet determination blazing in his eyes. For once, Sosei looked relaxed. Sasuke's eldest son's lip curled up in a smirk. Or was it a smile?

"Alright," Sasuke said. "This is a three-way sparring match. If your back hits the ground, you're disqualified. Do you understand?" All three of Sasuke's sons dipped their heads and Sasuke threw a kunai into the air. As the blade descended to the ground, Sasuke spoke. "Go."

True to his nature, Sosei immediately went on the offensive and aimed for Kichiro. Takuma stepped in between the two and aimed a kick at his older brother. Sosei grabbed Takuma's leg and tossed him to the side. Takuma maintained his balance and pressed towards Sosei again. Kichiro attacked Sosei as well with a punch. Sasuke's eldest was caught in between them.

Sosei waited until the very last second before he ducked beneath their combined attacks. The young Uchiha reached up and grabbed Kichiro by his arm and Takuma by his shirt and tossed his two brothers away from him. The two Uchiha boys managed to gather themselves in mid-air and land on their feet.

"Whew, that was close!" Kichiro said before turning to Takuma and grinning as he threw a half-hearted strike. Takuma batted it away and smiled.

"Hey, I thought we were on the same team," he said softly. Sosei chuckled.

"You heard Dad," the Uchiha said. "It's a three way battle." Takuma lowered his head and nodded at Sosei.

"Fine," he said as he burst forward and attacked, with Kichiro on his heels. As the three brothers collided in the center of the Spot, Sakura leaned her head on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha's onyx eyes briefly went down to his wife and then back to the field. Hikari chased a butterfly in the shade and her laughter brought a smile to Sasuke's face.

"They're doing very well together," Sakura said. Sasuke watched three boys as they playfully fought amongst themselves. Kichiro's laughing was incessant and within a few blows, he was on his back and out. Nevertheless, the youngest son simply rolled in the grass until he was on his stomach and rested his head in his hands as he watched Takuma and Sosei continued their fight. Sasuke could feel the tension suddenly escalate as the two traded blows. However, neither of them spouted off insults or jeers. There was a certain peace, even with the violence.

"Better than they were," Sasuke added. Hikari ran over to Kichiro and jumped on his back, giggling as her older brother flinched and turned on her with an annoyed frown before grinning as he tickled her.

Takuma and Sosei stopped their fight and glanced at their younger siblings. Kichiro and Hikari exchanged glances and then laughed as they ran towards Sosei and Takuma. Sasuke's four children collapsed into the grass and rolled around in a laughing ball. Even Sosei had a genuine smile on his face. Sasuke had one as well.

The Spot had never looked more beautiful.

Sasuke and his family returned home just as the Sun had begun to descend below the horizon. Sakura let Hikari down out of her arms and clapped her hands.

"All right, everyone go get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready shortly," she said. All four children raced to the bathroom and Sasuke was left alone with his wife, if only briefly. Sakura looked so beautiful now. The Uchiha head felt weak. He hadn't touched her in over a month. He craved her. As Sakura began to work over the stove, Sasuke seized his opportunity and approached. The Uchiha wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist and she shook at his touch. Sasuke could feel her weakening. His lips went to her neck.

"Sakura…" he growled. She melted.

"Sasuke…" she replied. Suddenly, she wriggled free and shook her head. "Not now." Sasuke frowned.

"Not now? But it's been—" Sakura's index and middle finger tapped the Uchiha's forehead.

"Later, Sasuke-kun," she said with a wink and her tongue extended. Sasuke chuckled and shook his head as his bangs drifted from side to side.

"Fine," he said. Nearly on cue, the children raced from the bathroom and looked intently at the table. Disappointment flashed across Kichiro's face.

"Mama, I thought you said dinner would be ready shortly," the boy frowned. Sakura waved at him.

"Calm down, little monster. I've got it under control. Daddy's going to help me," she said. Sasuke raised and eyebrow and blinked.

He was going to do what?

Apparently, Sasuke was meant to cook. The Uchiha wasn't one for culinary acrobatics. He usually left that to Sakura. The only thing he was good at was cutting things with precision, which luckily for him worked out on this dish. Together, Sasuke and Sakura prepared a massive chicken teriyaki dish glazed with honey with one particular plate covered in ramen, specifically for Kichiro. Sakura set the table while Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Food's ready!" Sasuke said. The Uchiha heard his children rustling around in their room before they were shushed by Takuma and Sosei. Only a few seconds later, the children entered the dining room in a calm and orderly line. Kichiro glanced back at Takuma and his big brother nodded at him. Hikari sat closest to Sakura, Kichiro next to her, and Sosei sat next to Takuma, across from each other.

The plates were passed and filled with food. Sasuke watched as his children began to dig into their food and joke amongst themselves. Sosei and Kichiro talked and the older of the brothers turned to Takuma. Sasuke's heir smiled and joined into the conversation. Seeing his family finally flowing together made Sasuke feel something he hadn't felt in a month. He was happy.

"I leave the dishes to you," Sasuke told Sosei after everyone had finished eating. His eldest son nodded and then looked up at Sasuke.

"Dad," the boy said. The gentle, settled look on his face was almost startling to Sasuke. He had grown accustomed to seeing ferocious hatred in the boy's eyes. His next words were even more surprising. "I just wanted to say, thanks. For not leaving me alone." Sasuke stopped and stared down at his son. The arrogant boy that had come to him was still there, he was Uchiha after all, but the anger was gone. Had it worked? Had Sasuke helped change him?

Sasuke couldn't do anything except put his hand on Sosei's head.

"You're my son. I'd never leave you," he said. With that, Sasuke left the kitchen and headed to his bedroom. In the master bath, Sakura ran her fingers through her hair. When she heard the door open, she turned and Sasuke saw her face light up. The Uchiha looked her up and down, taking in her shape, her hair, her hairs, every part that he missed being intimate with.

Sasuke moved forward and pulled Sakura toward him into a kiss. She didn't pull back. She didn't fight. She embraced the kiss. Sakura brought her arms up and wrapped them around Sasuke's neck and pulled him in deeper. Their tongues had a brief skirmish until Sasuke felt his tongue being vacuumed into Sakura's mouth. The sensation was new and arousing, if only for how foreign the action was to the Uchiha. Sasuke slowly dragged his tongue out her vacuum-like vice grip, slid it over hers in a massaging motion and then exited.

The lovers looked at each other and Sakura's green eyes bore into Sasuke's. Then the Uchiha slowly leaned in and their lips connected again. The kissing became more feverish and hungry. Sasuke desperately wanted Sakura again. The feeling felt nearly as strong as their wedding night.

No longer were Sasuke's lips focused exclusively on Sakura's. They now roamed away and trailed down Sakura's chin toward the side of her neck. The skin was wet, soft and smooth and she smelled faintly of vanilla. Sasuke licked her neck and he felt her tense up a bit and then relax. Sasuke growled on it and Sakura shivered. It was one of her spots. Sasuke continued to lick and earned the same moaning response with every trailing of his tongue. Sakura's fingers and hands softly slid down Sasuke's neck like a feather. The Uchiha took in a short but deep breath. Sakura knew his spots well.

Unsatisfied with the bathroom, Sasuke lifted his wife into his arms. Sakura's legs wrapped around the Uchiha's waist and her lips and tongue went to work on his with the same fervor he had shown. Sasuke finally collapsed on the bed and Sasuke pressed his hips down between Sakura's legs.

On the bottom, Sakura left the Uchiha's neck wet with her saliva and he looked down at her and kissed her soft lips again. Sasuke's excitement was growing and he knew that Sakura could tell. Under his pants, an erection formed and presses against Sakura's crotch. She near completely ignored it and enjoyed what Sasuke's tongue was doing on her chest. She pushed his head further in between her B-cups and Sasuke swung his tongue from side to side and in circles in between her breasts and Sakura giggled and ran her hands through his hair.

Her hands went down from his hair to his back and she lifted his shirt over his head. The Uchiha went vertical and helped her finish what she startedt. Sakura leaned up and kissed from Sasuke's chest down to his belly button and then she laid back down. Sasuke smiled at his pink haired kunoichi and kissed her cheek and rubbed his hands down her body. Sakura's lips, neck, and exposed breasts became lathered in the saliva from Sasuke's wet kisses and she took in several quick, pleasurable inhales.

The Uchiha's black eyes glance up at her as he left her breasts and kissed down to her stomach. He delivered quick kisses around her belly button. As he let a stray kiss hit below, he saw her stomach sink in as she shivered with pleasure. Sasuke smirked. Without even a second guess, he knew exactly what she wanted.

His hands slid down her sides, tickling her ribs, to her waist where her shorts rested. He pull them down and began to kiss the growing moist spot that had formed. Sakura shivered again and Sasuke's tongue danced over her wet spot. Her subsequent moans only pushed the man forward. The sounds he had missed for so long. He wanted to hear her louder and more intense. He wanted his wife so badly.

The Uchiha and his wife kissed again, this time without the tongue combat. The passion remained but the invitation that Sakura gave was a simple one. Sakura's legs rested on Sasuke's hips and she took in a deep breath as the Uchiha entered her.

When they had finally finished, laying drenched in sweat over messy covers, Sasuke sighed softly and glanced down at his wife. Sakura blushed and then kissed him softly, trailing her lips against hers as she stared into his eyes. Sasuke stared back.

This was his love. His family. The one thing that'd he sacrifice everything he had to keep. The words left his mouth with ease.

"I love you," Sasuke said. Sakura laid her arms around Sasuke's stomach and squeezed, just as she had the first time the two had finished their love making years ago.

"I love you too," Sakura replied, faintly as she rested her head on Sasuke's chest. As the love of his life slowly drifted to sleep, Sasuke's eyes went to the ceiling of his room. The last month had been a massive change of pace. He had flexed his killing hand, gained a son and encountered the horrors of his past. It had been exciting in a morbid way. But now, as he laid next to his wife with his children soundly and safely asleep in his home and the peaceful resonance of crickets and frogs singing their nighttime songs, Sasuke had only one thought.

_I love my "boring" life._

* * *

 

_**Next in the series, Brotherhood: Identities** _


End file.
